Motherland
by Rioko Kimura
Summary: Some people live for love, other think love is worthless. However, never, ever mistake love for a meaningless emotion. A girl's feelings causes a strange reaction with her DNA and brings back painful memories for Dark. Part two in fourpart series. Done!
1. Prologue

"I hate you! I HATE YOU!" Sana shouted, straining to get to Anas.

"Sumiko, stop this now!" Krad ordered.

"I won't! I was supposed to kill Dark, not Anas."

Dark stared at them blankly.

"You realize this is your fault, right, Dark!" Krad demanded. "Don't try to pin this down on anyone else. It is your fault through and through."

Dark could see Krad holding back Sana and Sana thrashing about, shouting even more offensive words toward Anas. He stared at them, yet it was like they didn't exist. Anas was . . . dead. What could he do? What could he do at that point?

_They're right, _he thought. _It's my fault. It's no use saying I was kidding. It's my fault._

"You think crying is going to earn you sympathy!" Sana screeched, angrier at the sight of the large tears coursing down Dark's face. "Well, forget it. I didn't get any sympathy from you, so you sure as heck won't get it from me!"

Somehow, Sana broke free from Krad's grasp and charged toward Dark. Her golden wings, somewhat stiff from blood, moved her faster than time.

"Dark, if you value your life, move!" Krad shouted.

"Die!" Sana shouted.

The cries fell on deaf ears. Dark had lost himself in his tears.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'M SORRY, SAKI!"

Just then, there was a huge flash of light.

_DNAngel belongs to Yukiru Sugisaki and none of its characters belong to me. About five characters belong to me (you figure out who). By the way, this is part two in that story thingy and doesn't comply with the original series and it's sort of an alternate universe. Have fun and comment on my sucky work! The song "Motherland" will be used and it belongs to Crystal Kay, not me. Its crappy version, "Onnagokoro", does belong to me._


	2. Wounded Tears

Daisuke stared at the painting. The painting's title was "Wounded Tears". There was something about it that hurt him deeply for some reason. Not the kind of hurt you went to the doctor's for. It was an emotional hurt, but an oh-so strong one. Almost as if it just tore him to pieces to even look at the painting. Guilt and sadness accompanied this feeling. Why?

The painting was that of a young woman, aged either seventeen or eighteen. The young woman had wavy golden red hair. Daisuke couldn't see her eye color because the eyes were closed. Forever, it seemed. She appeared to be lying on a snowy landscape. In her hands was a sharp, flat stiletto. The stiletto was a deep, deep red color. Her forest green dress had blood stains on it. There was a streak of blood on her cheek and a pale pink mark. Daisuke squinted and stared at her eyes. Barely visible, he noticed frozen tears clinging to the long lashes. Had someone killed the young woman? Or had she taken her own life?

The bell rung, breaking Daisuke out of his trance, and he hurried to get to class. He didn't know that soon two emerald green eyes were going to stare at him with both hatred and sympathy. The eyes of the young woman.

"Excuse me, excuse me," Chie Ryoyu said as she struggled to get to class. "Excuse me, please. Thank you. Excuse---Whoa!"

Tripping over someone's feet, Chie fell and crashed into the person in front of her, dropping her notebook. Both fell down in a heap.

"Ow," Chie mumbled and rubbed her forehead.

"Are you okay?"

Chie looked up. "Dai-kun, I'm so sorry!" she cried. "I'm so very deeply sorry!"

"It's okay." Daisuke stared at her for a moment. There was something about Chie that seemed strange today. Her school uniform was neat, as always, and her long reddish brown ponytails were held back with brick-colored ribbons. He had known Chie for at least a year now. There was nothing unusual about her, so why was he staring at her in a new light?

"Dai-kun?"

Daisuke blinked. "Uh, yes?"

"We're going to be late for class." Chie smiled pleasantly. "I'd better hurry. Don't wanna be late like last time, you know."

"Okay. Bye!"

"Bye-bye!"

Chie hurried off. It wasn't until she was gone that Daisuke noticed she had left her notebook behind.

"Oh, no," he said and picked it up. "I'll have to find her later and give it to her."

Out of the notebook fell a piece of paper. Daisuke picked it up. It was a rough sketch of "Wounded Tears."

_Where to start explaining this? I guess I'll talk about Chie. Chie is, to say the least, a little ditzy. Actually, she's extremely clumsy and actually trips on thin air. I was going to model her after Daisuke, but, somehow, she turned out . . . kinda different! Chie's friends include Daisuke, Riku, and another girl. Her family is pretty big on legends and myths. Chie's name means "wisdom" and her last name means "good friend". She can sing and paint, but is totally hopeless when it comes to dancing. She's polite in a cute way and uses honorifics a lot. She likes giving her friends nicknames (example: "Dai-kun" is what she calls Daisuke and "Giku-chan" is what she calls Riku). And I guess that's about it._


	3. Voices

"I'm here, I'm here!" Chie shouted as she opened the door to her class. Panting, she started to run into the classroom and tripped.

The entire class looked up at the sudden sound of Chie's falling and began laughing. Even her sister, Sasaya, was struggling not to laugh.

Chie stood up and walked over to her desk. She sat down and her head made a loud thump when it fell on the desk.

"I'm . . . beat," she mumbled, trying to catch her breath. She looked up. "Where's . . . the teacher . . . Ku-chan?"

"Not here yet," Sasaya said in her soft, whispery voice.

"Oh . . ." Chie banged her head on the table again. "I can believe I ran all the way up here and the teacher's not even here yet."

"Well, I'm here now, Ryoyu-imoto," the teacher said and placed a test on Chie's head.

Chie looked up and the test sheet fell of her head. "We have a test today!"

The teacher rolled his eyes. "I've been saying we were going to have a test today for a month now."

"Oh . . ."

After killing off a few more brain cells, Chie read the instructions in her head.

_Let's see. Blah, blah, blah, time to play the guessing game._

As Chie read a paragraph, another voice disrupted her thinking.

"_I'm sorry."_

Chie looked up, startled. The students were busy with their tests and the teacher was playing a video game. No one had said anything.

_Weird._

Chie want back to her assignment.

"_Kaikatsu, tell Sana I'm sorry."_

This time, Chie gasped out loud. The class turned to her, a little annoyed and surprised.

"Is something the matter, Chie-san?" Daisuke asked. "You look pale."

"It's nothing, Dai-kun. Sorry for the scare."

"All right."

Chie pretended to concentrate on her test, but she was really talking inside her head.

_Who are you? Are you a chemical malfunction or something that's causing me to think I'm hearing people?_

Chie waited for a response. When nothing spoke to her, she continued to finish her test. When the bell rung, Sasaya was waiting for her outside the classroom.

"What happened, Chie?" she asked. "Why did you gasp like that? It was almost like you'd seen a ghost."

"Uh, I was thinking about the movie I saw last night," Chie answered sheepishly. "It was so cool and it had all these weird ghosts running around."

"I thought you were doing your homework last night."

"I was doing both things at the same time."

Sasaya stared at her skeptically. "I see."

Chie's face flushed and she smiled sheepishly. "Really, it's nothing," she said and shook her head rapidly. "Let's go to our next class."

As the girls were leaving, Daisuke approached them.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked.

Chie nodded earnestly. "Yup, yup! Totally, totally fine. Thank you for your concern, Dai-kun."

Daisuke smiled. "Okay," he said and left.

"Do you think he might like you?" Sasaya asked.

Chie felt a blush crawl up her face. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, he seemed awfully concerned about you."

"Oh, that's just his personality. Dai-kun is very kind. He'd help even a cockroach with a broken leg. And besides, I know he likes Giku-chan."

Sasaya frowned. She had seen the wistfulness in her sister's eyes.

The next class started. The teacher paired everyone up in groups of four. Sasaya and Chie were with Daisuke and Satoshi Hiwatari. As Satoshi read, Chie heard it again.

"_Let me out to apologize."_

Chie's eyes widened. "What?"

Sasaya turned to Chie. "Did you say something?"

"_I need to apologize to Sana. Let me out. I just need to apologize."_

"Chie? Chie?" Sasaya asked. "Are you sick? You're very pale. Chie!"

Satoshi stopped reading as soon as he heard Sasaya's voice rise above the normal whisper. Sasaya never raised her voice.

"Is she all right?" Daisuke asked.

Chie couldn't hear everyone. She couldn't see anything. She didn't even feel the pain as she fell out of her chair and crashed onto the floor.

"_Who are you?"_

A mental image of a girl in her late teens materialized in her head. She was stunningly beautiful with wavy golden red hair, emerald green eyes, and a light dusting of freckles on her nose.

"_I'm Anas. Let me apologize to Sana."_

Chie closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

_Ah, I wanted to make this chapter better, but I couldn't figure out how. I'm so, so stupid. Let's see. Sasaya means "whisper". Kaikatsu means "cheerful, lively, and merry". Anas makes a habit of calling Chie that. The word Sana calls her tamer (Shikatsu) means "life or death" and you'll figure out why in a few other chapters. Ku is either another way to read the character for Sasaya's name or an actual part of her name that I dropped because I felt like it. Oh, an imoto means "little sister". When people call Chie by her last name, they usually add that word at the end to decrease confusion._ _I hope to end this fanfic soon. No doubt that whoever read Kesenai Tsumi wants this to be over soon so they could see what happens to Ed and Al._


	4. Anas

"_Anas?" Chie asked, staring at the girl. "I've never heard a name like that."_

_Anas smiled. "Anas is my middle name. Sana's real name was also different, but her middle name was an anagram of my name, so we called each other that."_

"_So, um, where exactly am I?" Chie asked, scanning the blank, whitish area._

"_Inside your mind."_

"_Oh, wow. Kiku-san's right. I really don't have anything up here." Chie blushed and smiled sheepishly. "I guess I fainted."_

_Anas laughed. "I guess you did. Now, listen to me, Kaikatsu. I'm not going to hurt you. Nothing bad will happen to you. I just need to apologize to Sana."_

_Chie nodded. "Sounds fair. If you just want to apologize, I won't stand in your way."_

_Anas chuckled. "You don't know who I am, do you?"_

"_Yes. You're . . . Anas, right? A girl inside my mind or something like that."_

"_Yes, but I'm not an ordinary girl. I'm an angel."_

"_Angel?"_

_Wings of brilliant red feathers popped suddenly out of Anas's back. "I know it seems a little strange to you, but for me to speak with you, that must mean that Sana is nearby."_

_Chie scratched her head. "I've got a couple of questions. Why do you call me Kaikatsu?"_

_Anas smiled prettily. "That names means 'cheerful and merry'. It describes your personality perfectly."_

"_Wow, really?" Chie scratched her chin and stared into space. "I guess I'll give you a nickname now. You'll be . . . Anko-chan!"_

_Anas blinked, visibly surprised. "Anko?" She was picturing a dumpling stuffed with sweet bean paste in her head._

_Chie nodded and smiled a great, big smile. "You remind me of those An dumplings."_

_Anas surprise faded and she smiled again. "All right. What is your next question?"_

"_Oh, right. Uh, let me remember." Chie reverted to her thinking pose for a few moments and then spoke. "Who is Sana?"_

"_She is . . ."_

"Chie, are you all right?"

Chie opened one eye and immediately closed it. "I don't wanna go to school today," she mumbled.

The class cracked up. Sasaya grabbed Chie's hands and forced her to sit up. "You're already at school. You fell out of your chair and fainted."

"Are you all right?" Risa Harada asked.

Slightly dazed and puffy-eyed, Chie nodded. "Uh-huh." She rubbed her head. "Ow, I think I killed off some more brain cells."

Daisuke noticed Satoshi staring at Chie critically.

"Why are you staring at her like that?" he asked.

Satoshi shook his head. "It's nothing."

"All right, everybody," the teacher said as he clapped his hands. "Enough. Go back to your seats. Ryoyu-imoto, do you feel okay? Are you sick?"

"I'm fine. My head just hurts a little."

"Okay. Niwa, why don't you escort her to the infirmary?"

"Yes, sir."

Daisuke and Chie walked outside and toward the infirmary.

"You gave everyone quite a scare," he said.

Chie smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I needed a few more minutes of sleep before waking up. I was working on that lame project that Koiko-sensei had assigned us. Are you finished with it?"

Daisuke shook his head. "I haven't even started."

Both laughed.

"So, Chie-san, is it true that you and your family run a bakery?"

Chie nodded and tears pricked her eyes. "It used to be my mom, my dad, me, and my grandmother?"

Daisuke looked confused. "'Used to be'?"

Chie stared at the floor and rubbed her eyes, forcing the tears to go back inside. "My parents died when I was three."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Chie looked up and smiled. "It's all right. Besides, Ku-chan and Kiku-san are always by my side. Kiku-san is my grandmother and Ku-chan is my sister and my best friend."

Daisuke brightened. "So is your life a good one?"

Chie gave a little bounce and smiled brightly. "It is!"

"I'd sure love to go to your family's bakery and meet your family."

Chie's smile faded as she felt her heart give out a long, sustained beat. Suddenly, the rate of her heartbeats increased. Chie clutched her chest and moaned.

"Chie-san?" Daisuke asked. "Chie-san, what's wrong!"

"_It can't be," _Dark said.

"_What are you talking about?" _Daisuke asked.

"_Which one is she? Is she Sumiko or Saki?"_

"_Sumiko? Saki? Who are they?"_

"_Daisuke, get out of here, quickly!"_

"_But, Chie-san---"_

Chie took a deep breath and her heart slowed down.

"Chie-san?" Daisuke asked. "What happened?"

Still breathing heavily, Chie managed a smile. "I'm all right. Here's the infirmary. I'll just go now."

Daisuke's look of concern didn't fade. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, yes. Thank you for your concern."

Still unconvinced, Daisuke left and return to his class.

"I must say that I am very disappointed that only two of you have completed the project," Koiko-sensei said. "Of course, the two I'm talking about are Hiwatari and Ryoyu. The rest of you have one more day, but I expect quality work. Class dismissed!"

Chie turned to Daisuke and smiled as if to say, "That's a relief". Daisuke smiled back.

"_You look ridiculous," _Dark said. _"And this couldn't be any worse than it already is."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_Ugh, never mind."_

Daisuke frowned a little. Why was Dark being so moody? Usually, Dark would tease him to no end about not completing his homework. What was going on?

"Dai-kun?"

Daisuke looked up. "Huh?"

Chie blinked. "Why are you talking to yourself?"

Daisuke laughed. "Oh, was I talking to myself?"

"Uh-huh."

Daisuke's face slowly changed to match the color of his hair. "Oh, well, uh, when was I talking to myself?"

Chie cocked her head to one side, the look of confusion still on her face.

"Chie-chan," a voice said.

Chie looked up. "Giku-chan, hi!"

"Come on. We have practice this afternoon, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Chie stood up and ran out of the classroom. "See you later, Dai-kun! You can come by the bakery tomorrow if you'd like."

Sasaya stared out the window, thinking, when Satoshi interrupted her thoughts.

"It's happening, isn't it?" he asked.

Sasaya stared at him with confusion. "What?"

"Be careful, Sasaya. Just be careful, all right?"

Satoshi started to leave, but Sasaya grabbed his arm.

"You know, don't you?" she whispered. "You know about this as well, don't you?" She looked up and stared into his blue eyes with her own hazel ones. "After all, you were involved in it, weren't you, Satoshi?"

Satoshi nodded. "Yes. Yes I was." Swiftly, he looked around. The classroom was empty. Still, he leaned over and whispered in Sasaya's ear, "Please meet me at the Akrasia Temple next Saturday. We have to . . . talk."

Sasaya nodded. "Yes."

_About Sasaya, if you guessed that I tried to model her after Satoshi, you are . . . correct! She's more intelligent than Chie and she can dance without stepping on the other person's foot, but, for some strange reason, she's extremely quiet. It's super rare for her to raise her voice. She doesn't have many friends, only Chie and maybe Satoshi. Her friendship with Satoshi is probably going to cause great heartache for the both of them later on (at least, I think it will)._

_Honorifics-and-their-meanings-time! San and Sama both mean "Mr., Miss, and Mrs.", but Sama's more honorable than San. Chan means either "cute, little . . ." and "my dear". Kun means something along those lines as well, but I forgot exactly what. The latter two are used to indicate affection._


	5. Ekisha

Daisuke stepped into the Ryoyu family bakery. The first thing he noticed was the smell of bread and some other smell. It was sweet and strong and a little unpleasant. It was the smell of incense. From the smell, one would expect the bakery itself to be dark and gloomy, but it was a cheerful place. The windows had handmade lace curtains on them and they were all open. Poppy flowers decorated the counter. There were white, wooden chairs and tables with flowers painted on them. The walls were bright yellow, so it seemed as though the sunshine was trapped inside the building.

An old lady sat behind the counter at a table, reading tarot cards. She had long, black hair streaked with white and wore a yellow dress. Chrysanthemums were interwoven in her hair.

"Hello," she said without looking up. "Would you like me to read your fortune?"

"Uh, that's okay," Daisuke said. "I don't have any money."

"It doesn't matter." The old lady shuffled the deck of the tarot cards and laid out seven of them. She turned them over one by one. "Someone did something. Something so horrible it led to murder."

"Murder?" Daisuke asked nervously.

"Yes. It was in the past, but it still lives on. The hatred is very strong. If he---" the old lady pointed at Daisuke "---doesn't do something about it, it will keep going on. This also involves someone else and he should be warned because he is also involved in it. Beware!" The lady tossed back her head and let out a cackling laugh. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Daisuke took a step back toward the door.

"Well, thanks," he said with a shaking voice and grabbed the doorknob.

The old lady jumped from the back counter, ran up to Daisuke, and grabbed his arm. "Wait," she said sinisterly.

Frozen stiff, Daisuke nodded. What was going on?

"Uta!" the lady called.

_Song? What song?_

The lady cackled when she noticed the frightened look on Daisuke's face. "Oh, relax. You look like I'm about to grind your bones to make our bread or something. Don't worry. I use the bones of fifteen-year-olds, not fourteen-year-olds."

Daisuke managed a weak smile. "Uh-huh."

"Kiku-san," a voice said. "Were you scaring the customers again?"

Kikuko laughed and let go of Daisuke arm. "You know me well, Uta."

Daisuke heard the sound of rapid footsteps descending from the spiral staircase in the corner of the room and looked up. Chie, wearing a white pinafore and yellow, ruffled dress, walked up to them.

"Hello, Chie-san," Daisuke said, relaxing visibly.

Chie smiled. "In case you're wondering, Uta's my nickname. My grandmother thinks that anyone who can carry a tune is the world's best singer."

"You can sing?" Daisuke asked, surprised.

A glow of pride filled Kikuko's face. "Of course she can."

"Kiku-san," Chie said as if protesting.

"Come on, Uta. Sing 'Onnagokoro'."

Chie blushed and played with her hair ribbons. She was visibly uncomfortable. "Uh . . ."

"Please, Chie-san," Daisuke begged. "I'd love to hear you sing."

Blushing, Chie nodded. "All right." She took a deep breath and began to sing.

"You said you loved me forever

You said I was your flower

So I smiled and thanked God

You said we were through

So I smiled and said it was okay

But on the inside I was weeping

My heart was shattered

So I prayed upon a sad stone

Even if we're through could we still be friends?

How was I to know it would never be the same?

You broke my heart and left it in the dirt

Now I will never find its tearstained shards

Among the blood of our friends. . ."

Chie stopped singing. Daisuke sighed as if in awe.

"Wow," he mumbled. "That was really good."

"It's not my best song. The tune is a very difficult one to follow, and, well, the words really don't rhyme or make sense together."

Kikuko scoffed. "Any idiot can carry a tune, but few can release its emotions."

"I don't do that!" Chie said, blushing.

"It's true, Chie-san," Daisuke said. "You sounded happy in the beginning, then sad nearing the end, and completely devastated at the last few lines."

Chie played with her hair ribbons again, but she was clearly pleased.

"You said the song was called 'Onnagokoro', right?" Daisuke asked Kikuko. "What does that mean?"

"It's an old word, I think. If I remember correctly, it means a woman's heart or a maiden's heart. Girls, are delicate, you know. Even the toughest ones have a soft, delicate heart." Kikuko stared at Daisuke closely. "Why, even you have a delicate heart and you're a boy! That's rare, you know."

At Daisuke's confusion, Kikuko laughed.

"I'm sure you know what I mean. By the way, I'm Kikuko Ekisha, Uta's grandmother and fortuneteller in case you couldn't tell."

Daisuke nodded and stared at the flowers on the tables. "Why are there so many poppy flowers?"

"For Hinageshi," Chie responded.

"Hinageshi?"

"Poppy flowers were my mom's favorite flowers. She was even named after them."

"Oh, that's right. Hinageshi means 'poppy flower'."

Kikuko laughed. "Well, now that introductions are over, take this."

The laughing woman handed Daisuke a white, cardboard box with flowers on it.

"What is it?"

"Bread. To make up for frightening you."

Daisuke opened the box and took a bite from one of the bread rolls. It was soft and steam rose out of it when he bit it, warming his face.

"Mmm! It's good!" he exclaimed with his mouth full.

"Of course it's good." Kikuko smiled proudly and pointed to herself. "I made it."

"Thank you for coming, Dai-kun," Chie said. "Come back any time. Now, I need to go back into the kitchen. Bye!"

"Okay, bye!"

As soon as Chie disappeared, Kikuko turned back to Daisuke.

"I wasn't kidding about your fortune. He did something and I know he's there. He probably remembers it, but doesn't want to remember."

Daisuke knew Kikuko was talking about Dark.

"_What did you do?"_ he asked.

"_Nothing!"_

"_You did something!"_

"Anyway, I would suggest you proceed with caution. I'm not telling you this so you can get paranoia, Niwa-chan, but watch out. They're out there, you know. And tell that thief the next time he takes something as fragile as a maiden's heart, he had better not break it."

Daisuke wanted to ask more questions, but Kikuko gave him another box of bread and ushered him out of the shop.

"That was weird," Daisuke mumbled on his way home. _"Dark, was there some girl you hurt?"_

"_No! I'm a perfect gentleman."_

"_Right. You were talking about two girls: Sumiko and Saki, right?" _Daisuke's eyes widened. _"Wait a second! Is Chie---?"_

"_Could be. That's why you'd better watch out. It's been a while seen I've seen both of them. If I remember correctly, Sumiko was bratty and Saki was the nice one. Their middle names were anagrammatically similar and they got a real kick out of calling each other their middle names. I think one was Anas and the other Sana."_

"_So are they light and dark as well?"_

"_Probably. Sumiko was a scary one. Her personality could change in a heartbeat. She could be your best friend one moment and slit your throat the next."_

Daisuke walked the rest of the way home in silence.


	6. Akrasia Temple

Satoshi shivered. It was very cold for a spring day. The clouds blocked the sun, so no warmth graced the earth. No birds could be heard, no voices, nothing. Nobody was at Akrasia Temple.

_It's as if the temple had sent out a warning to people and they are avoiding it, _Satoshi thought. _It's a very ominous place to be right now._

Since there were no people, Satoshi immediately spotted Sasaya. Her honey-colored hair contrasted with the rather dreary surroundings. The Temple must've had a door in its prime, but it was long gone and looked like it had been ripped off its hinges. The entire building was made of stone, with tall, smooth pillars that were cracked with age. Trees and plants that must've been filled with life once upon a time were dead and decaying. No one cared for the temple or its grounds. Akrasia Temple was an old one and not many bothered to come. Most said it was because they always felt as if someone were threatening them.

"It's sad, isn't it?" Sasaya asked after she greeted Satoshi.

Satoshi sat down next to Sasaya on the stone bench. "What?"

"It's abandoned, but it's still here. It's like no one wants to let it die. An old toy that a child doesn't want to give away for the sole reason that it belongs to him and no one else can have it. It almost describes the lives of . . . certain people."

Satoshi smiled a little bit. "I guess you're right." He stared at the entrance of the temple. Inside was a large, stone altar where a single statuette rested.

"That statuette scares Kiku-san," Sasaya said after a long period of silence. She stood up and motioned Satoshi to follower her so they could get a closer look.

The statuette was made out of soapstone and was completely white. An unnaturally bright white. There were four children carved out of soapstone. The four children, two boys and two girls, were standing in the middle of a rosemary field. They were all standing back-to-back in a circle and their arms were linked together by tiny, black ribbons. The ribbons were tied so intricately that it was hard to tell where the knot was.

"She says that the rosemary represents remembrance, the white soapstone innocence, and the black ribbons humankind's evil deeds." Sasaya gingerly touched the head of the shortest child, a girl with pigtails. "The ribbons are tied so elaborately because evil is so complex. Especially when it begins to border along good."

"I see. Um, do you know why so many people are afraid to come to Akrasia Temple?"

Sasaya stared at the ceiling, as if trying to implore the building to give her answers. "The name 'akrasia' means 'weakness of will'. The reason is that people who came here always felt like someone was watching them. Someone or . . . something . . . evil. The weak-willed ones were frightened away. The rest became so scared that they became weak-willed as well." Sasaya sighed and walked out of the temple. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

Satoshi hesitated, but finally spoke. "It's about . . . your other."

Sasaya frowned, but a look of fear crossed her eyes.

The door opened with a bang and Chie looked up, nearly dropping the plate of bread in her hands. Riku walked up to her, red-faced and gasping. Daisuke was right behind her.

"Giku-chan, Dai-kun, what---?" Chie began and put the bread plate down.

Riku took a moment to catch her breath. "Your sister . . . and Hiwatari-kun . . . at Akrasia Temple . . . together!"

"What!" Chie gasped. "Ku-chan and Hiwa-san at the Akrasia Temple!"

"You heard me," Riku said. "There's no mistaking it. It was them, _together!_"

Chie gripped the folds of her pinafore. A delighted smile lit up her face. "Wow! I wonder if they're an item."

"You know, they make a pretty cute couple, your sister and Hiwatari-kun."

Chie giggled. "I know. They're both so quiet and serious . . . it's like they were made for each other. Like it had all been foretold long ago."

Daisuke grimaced. For some reason, he had a terrible feeling whenever he thought of Satoshi and Sasaya together.

"Dai-kun? Dai-kun?"

"Hey, Daisuke!"

Daisuke jumped, shaken out of his thoughts. "Huh? What?"

"You looked completely out of it," Riku said.

"Are you okay, Dai-kun?" Chie asked, concerned.

"Oh, I'm all right."

Riku and Chie continued talking about Satoshi and Sasaya. Daisuke still couldn't shake that dreadful feeling.

_If I remember correctly, Riku calls Daisuke by his first name in the manga. In the anime, it's either Niwa or Niwa-kun, but I've decided on her calling him by his first name. I'm not exactly sure why. _


	7. The Locket

"Bye, Kiku-san!" Chie called and raced out the door.

"Hold it!"

Kikuko grabbed Chie's hand and dragged her back inside.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kikuko asked.

"Uh, practice."

"Clean the attic first."

"Huh? But why?" Chie whined. "Why can't Ku-chan do it?"

"Because she cleaned it last week. And maybe if you hadn't been so busy gossiping with Riku-chan, you would've finished it yesterday. Now march!"

Chie sighed and climbed the stairs. When she opened the attic door, she found it clean and bright. Even the skylight had been cleaned, so the morning sun shone in brightly. Sasaya was on the floor, sifting through some boxes.

"Ku-chan?"

Sasaya looked up with a smile. "Hi, Chie. I was just looking for something."

"Really? What is it? Maybe I've seen it."

Sasaya shook her head. "Never mind. Oh, I did find this, though."

Sasaya held up a silver locket on a thin, gold chain. The locket was in the shape of a four leaf clover.

"How pretty!" Chie exclaimed.

Sasaya smiled and walked behind Chie.

"You can have it," she said as she was fastening it on Chie's neck.

"Thank you!" Chie said. "You're the world's best sister!"

"Uta, the little redhead's here!" Kikuko called. "Give him some bread! Oh, and Riku-chan's here, too."

"Coming!"

Chie ran downstairs. Sasaya watched her.

"_If she missed even one step, she'd tumble down three flights of stairs. If she fell, she'd break her neck."_

Sasaya gasped at the morbid thoughts.

"_What's going on? Who said that?"_

"_It's me, Shikatsu. You remember me, don't you?"_

Sasaya started feeling sleepy. Very sleepy.

"Stop it," she said and grabbed onto the wall for support. "Leave me alone. Leave me alone!"

"_So, you were with him two days ago? Why? Any special reason? Or special feelings?"_

Sasaya frowned. "You're thinking . . . about hurting Satoshi . . . and Chie, aren't you?"

"_Now why would I do that?" _The strange voice laughed._ "Go to sleep, Shikatsu."_

Sasaya collapsed.

Kikuko looked at the clock. It had been hours, but Sasaya hadn't come down from the attic.

"Niwa-chan, go fetch Saya-chan for me," she said.

Daisuke looked up. "Huh? Me? Why?"

"Try speaking in complete sentences first. Yes, you, and why, because you've been here for hours eating bread. One day, you will turn into a bread loaf yourself for eating so much of it."

Daisuke laughed sheepishly. "Okay, where is she?"

"Upstairs in the attic. You'll have to go down to the basement first. Find the door that says attic and go up those stairs. Careful, though. They're old and rickety."

"Okay."

The stairs were indeed old. The basement was just an ordinary basement, filled with stacks of boxes holding worthless junk, but the stairs were another story. They were actually a large, winding staircase that made one dizzy just to look at the top. The wood was smooth and clean. Etched into the wood were little scenes: two girls playing, a boy and a girl planting flowers, a school scene, and several others. It was then that Daisuke realized he had never given the sketch back to Chie. For some reason, he hadn't been able to let go of it.

"Ryoyu-san, Ekisha-san wants you to come down . . . stairs."

Daisuke paused for a while and stared at the person rummaging around the boxes. The person stood up and Daisuke realized it was a girl. A cute girl with short, golden ringlets and honey brown eyes that gleamed with a yellow light. She wore a white, gauzy dress with golden ribbons sewn into it.

"Who are you?" Daisuke asked. "Where's Ryoyu-san?"

The girl smiled prettily. "I'm sorry. Sasaya isn't home right now. Can I take a message, Dark?"

Daisuke gasped.

"_It's Sumiko!" _Dark said.

"_What? Sumiko?"_

"_Yeah. Quickly, change into me and fast!"_

Before Daisuke could move, the girl grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him slightly off the floor. Daisuke flinched as her nails dug deep into his flesh.

"I didn't even get a chance to introduce myself," she said sweetly. "I'm Sumiko Sana Shinchu. Interesting name, no? What's yours, little one?"

"Uh, um, Dai-Daisuke."

"Daisuke. What a lovely name for such a sweet boy. I believe it means 'great helper'. Now, be a good little boy and carry this message from me to Chie. Tell her that Sasaya is going on a little trip. And when she comes back, bad, terrible things will happen. And warn Sasaya's little crush, the one she likes most of all."

"Who?"

Sana laughed sweetly. "You'll figure it out. And if you don't, oh, well. Just know that if you fail, I'm going to do something very bad to you."

Daisuke paled. "What?" he managed to eek out.

"I'll reach into your chest and rip out your heart. They say that the younger the victim, the more the heart beats and that's how I like it. Then I'll cast your soul into the darkness so you will wander in a void where nothingness exists. Do you understand me now?"

Daisuke stared up at Sana's face. He couldn't believe the words that had come out of her mouth. Sana herself seemed so sweet and nice, but her words painted a different image. A darker image.

"Can't you move?" Sana asked. She let go of one of Daisuke's shoulders and held up her bloody fingernails. "Would you like to see what I could do to you with one fingernail?"

"Let him go!"

Sana turned around and dropped Daisuke on the floor. Daisuke scrambled to get away from Sana. Kikuko grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her.

"Get out of here," she said. "And make sure that Uta doesn't come back here after practice. Make her go to Riku-chan's or your house. Just keep her away from here for a long time. And try acting normal. Pretend none of this happened."

Daisuke nodded and ran down the stairs.

"Well, well, well," Sana said. "If it isn't the faded chrysanthemum? How has life been treating you, Kikuko?"

"How dare you?" Kikuko snapped. "How dare you come back and in Saya-chan's body no less?"

"It won't be hers for very long. You see, Shikatsu knows what I mean when I call her that name. She's very polite and obedient. You raised her well."

"What do you want? Why have you come back from beyond the portal?"

Sana smiled and her golden wings popped out of her back. "You'll see in due time. Bye-bye!"

With that, Sana broke through the skylight and left. Kikuko sighed and watched the broken glass fall to the ground.

"Poor children," she whispered.


	8. Suspicion

The sun was setting and Riku and Chie were walking home and talking.

"Chie, where did you that locket?" Riku asked.

"Oh, Ku-chan found it in the attic and --- uh, isn't that Dai-kun?"

Chie pointed at the figure running toward them.

"It is." Riku waved. "Daisuke!"

"Oh, Riku-san, Chie-san!" Daisuke nearly tripped running toward them. "Ekisha-san asked me to tell you that you have to go home with a friend today."

Chie blinked. "Huh? What?"

"You can't go to your home today because . . . uh . . ."

Daisuke trailed off.

"Yes?" Chie prompted.

_What can I tell her? It's not like I can say that her sister transformed into Sumiko and wants to kill me and her and Dark and . . . who was the other person? _

"Daisuke, are you all right?" Riku asked, her eyes wide with concern and surprise.

"Yes."

"Then why's there blood running down your arms?"

"It's not blood, it's paint."

Riku frowned. "Oh, really?"

Chie grew a little uncomfortable. "Uh, I guess I'll be going now."

Just then, Emiko walked by. She took one look at Daisuke and said, "Okay, what happened?"

"Nothing."

Emiko was about to say something else, but noticed the two girls staring at her. Emiko also noticed Chie's locket.

"Daisuke, who's she?" Emiko asked, pointing to Chie.

"I'm Chie Ryoyu," the girl said before Daisuke could.

"Ryoyu? Hmm, now where have I heard that name before?"

"Chie-chan, come here," Riku hissed and pulled Chie toward her.

"What is it, Giku-chan?" Chie asked.

"Go home with Daisuke. He's hiding something, so figure out what."

"But why me?"

"Because it'd be weird if I go. So can you do that, please?"

Chie sighed. "Okay."


	9. The Heirophant

Emiko opened the door with a smile.

"Okay, you two stay out here for a little while," she said. "I'll be right back."

Chie blinked when she heard a bunch of crashing sounds. "What's that?"

Daisuke smiled. "Nothing."

Emiko opened the door and ushered them inside. She turned to Chie and smiled. "I don't believe we were properly introduced. I'm Emiko, Daisuke's mom. You're Chie, right?"

Chie nodded.

"Well, I'm going to have a talk with Daisuke. You sit here and make yourself comfortable."

Emiko grabbed Daisuke's arm and dragged him into the kitchen.

"Okay, Daisuke, please tell me you knew she was a Ryoyu before you brought her here," Emiko whispered in a very hushed voice. "Oh, a better question is _why _did you bring her here?"

Daisuke grew confused. "Of course I know she's a Ryoyu." He struggled to come up with an explanation for the second question. "We have to work on a class assignment together."

Emiko sighed, looking very relieved. "Oh, a class assignment? Well, that's good." She smiled and shoved Daisuke back into the living room. "Now go with Chie and work on your little assignment."

A little confused, Daisuke walked back into the living room. He saw Chie sitting on a chair with a notebook. She was humming a little tune and appeared to be writing something. Daisuke walked toward her and saw that she wasn't writing something at all. She was sketching something. It was a girl with long curls sitting down and playing a harp and another girl, this one with short curls, dancing. He stared at the sketch. It was impeccably beautiful. Daisuke could nearly hear the tunes from the harp. He could tell they were gentle notes, for the short-haired girl was dancing slowly in a small spin. The girl's clothes billowed out gently. The sleeves of her dress were gauzy and long, so Daisuke could see the graceful arms moving in time with the music the harpist was playing. The harpist looked shy, her long-lashed eyes staring shyly at the strings of the harp. She looked modest, but pleased at the same time and maybe a little in awe. It was almost as if she didn't believe she could make such beautiful music.

"It's beautiful," Daisuke whispered.

Chie's eyes widened and she nearly jumped out of her seat. "Oh, Dai-kun!" She noticed Daisuke's eyes on her sketch and blushed.

"I'm sorry," Daisuke said. "I didn't mean to startle you. And I, uh, I didn't mean to look."

Chie smiled. "It's all right."

"Can I see it?"

Blushing, Chie handed the sketch to him. "It's not that good," she mumbled.

Daisuke took it and looked at it again. He still couldn't believe the beauty of the sketch. If this was just a sketch, what would the actual painting look like?

"It really is lovely," he said and gave it back to her. "How did you come up with this?"

Chie shrugged. "I don't know. Images just come to my head every now and then."

"Like the painting of the red-haired girl in the art room?"

Chie's eyes widened. "How did you know I had painted it?"

Blushing, Daisuke took out the notebook and the sketch Chie had dropped the other day. He gave it to her and said, "I'm sorry I didn't return it earlier."

Chie stared at the sketch. "I don't know why I sketched it, much less why I painted it."

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Saki."

Daisuke's eyes widened. "Saki!"

Chie didn't notice the surprise in his outburst. "Yes. There's a legend about Saki in my family. Kiku-san told it to me often. Saki killed her best friend because she thought she was stealing her one true love. Saki was so sad that she killed herself. As a requiem of sorts for her, I guess I painted that picture."

"_So you really had nothing to do with them, Dark?"_

"_Told you!"_

"_But then way did Ekisha-san say that?"_

"_She's just some old coot."_

Chie smiled. "Well, that's that. I'd better go home."

"Uh, wait---!"

"It's late, Dai-kun. Kiku-san will be worried."

Chie got up and walked outside. Daisuke followed her.

"Chie-san, wait!"

Chie turned around. "What is it?"

Daisuke gasped. _"Oh, no!"_

Right behind Chie was Sana.


	10. Justice

"Chie-san, look out!" Daisuke shouted.

Chie turned around and smiled. "Ku-chan, hi!"

Dark laughed. _"I bet you feel like the stupidest person on Earth right now."_

"_But-but---"_

"Dai-kun, are you okay?" Chie asked. "You have a very strange look on your face."

Daisuke blushed, suddenly feeling very foolish. It hadn't been Sana, just Sasaya. How could he have gotten them confused?

"Chie-chan, why didn't you come home immediately after practice?" Sasaya asked. "Kiku-san was worried."

"Giku-chan wanted me to follow Dai-kun," Chie whispered in her ear.

"Oh. Well, then, let's go."

"Okay. Bye, Dai-kun!"

The girls started leaving. However, Sasaya stopped and turned around. She walked toward Daisuke and smiled. Daisuke backed away from her. The smile was Sana's.

"Clean up that dried blood," she whispered, "because there's more where that came from."

"You-you said you were going to leave," Daisuke stammered.

"I changed my mind. Here." Sasaya a.k.a. Sana took a card out of here skirt pocket and threw it Daisuke. Daisuke caught it. The card featured a picture of a woman dressed in judge's clothes. She had long, flowing hair and a crown of flowers. She held a set of scales in one hand and a sword in the other. Daisuke recognized it as a tarot card.

"The card of Justice?" he asked. "What---?"

"Think about it, Daisuke. What does the card Justice symbolize?"

"Fairness."

The girl shook her head. "All tarot cards have negative meanings. Go to Kikuko again. Ask for the cards that were cast to read your fortune. I assure you that your cards didn't mean anything positive." She grinned and stared into his eyes. "You had negative readings, Dark."

Daisuke's eyes widened. Her gaze was so intense.

The girl laughed once more. "Bye-bye!"


	11. Negative Views

"Um, Ekisha-san?" Daisuke asked the next day.

"If you want more bread, you'll pay for it this time," Kikuko responded sourly.

"Uh, no, I mean, yes, but---"

Kikuko sighed. "I know. She told me last night. Here."

Kikuko handed Daisuke the cards.

"Thank you."

Daisuke sat down to take a look at them. The cards were The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, and The Moon.

"Just to clue you in, that's not really your fortune," Kikuko said.

Daisuke looked up. "Yeah, you told me. It's Dark's, right?

"Yes. Technically, it's describing what he did in the past and the results of it. But that's all I can tell you."

Daisuke took the card of The Lovers. A young man and woman were holding hands and sitting under a weeping willow. Both were smiling.

"_Separation, fickleness, unreliability," _Dark mumbled.

"_What?"_

"_That's what this card's negative views symbolize."_

"_So what you're saying is that you were unfaithful."_

For once, Dark didn't say anything.

"He's pensive, isn't he?" Kikuko asked, sitting down next to Daisuke.

Daisuke looked up. "You can tell?"

"I'm a fortuneteller, sweetie. It's my job to be nosy---I mean, caring and sensitive to others."

"I've been meaning to ask, but how is it that you know about Dark?"

Kikuko frowned and took the Lovers card out of Daisuke's hand. "How do you think? He betrayed my ancestor."

"Oh. You mean Saki, right?"

"Yes." Kikuko raised an eyebrow. "How do you know about Saki?"

"Chie-san painted a picture of her."

"Of Saki?"

"Yes. It was in the art room." Daisuke stared at the card of The Moon. _"Dark, tell me. How exactly did this all happen?"_

Dark sighed. _"I don't remember."_

"_You don't remember!"_

"_Honestly, I don't remember." _Dark's knitted his brow with frustration. _"I don't remember what I did to either Saki or Sumiko and it kills me because I know what I did . . . hurt them."_

Daisuke stared at the cards. "The Moon, taking advantage of someone; The High Priestess, ignorance, selfishness, and conceit; The Empress, delay in accomplishment; The Emperor, immaturity and indecision; The Magician, willpower applied to evil ends . . ." Daisuke stopped reading the cards. _"Dark, I think I know what you did."_

Dark looked hurt upon sensing Daisuke's thoughts. _"Oh, come on, Daisuke! Even I wouldn't do that!"_

Kikuko frowned at the cards. "This can't be!"

Daisuke looked up. "What is it? Did I miss something?"

"No, but . . . these fortunes! They're the Fortunes of the Four Angels!"

Daisuke blinked. "Huh?"

Kikuko's eyes widened with shock and another emotion Daisuke was unable to read. "Dark, Krad, Anas, and Sana, these are their fortunes!"

Daisuke stood up. "How? I thought you only read Dark's fortune."

Kikuko shook her head. "This is all going to end badly once again."

"How!" Daisuke asked. "Please, tell me."

"I've told you once before. The only way to prevent it is to repair it. Dark, you have to repair it."

"_How can I repair something when I don't even have all its shards?"_

Ashamed, Dark hung his head and stared at the ground.


	12. Fortune of the Four Angels

Chie sat down on the floor and sneezed ten times loudly. She had been painting in the art room when Riku had suddenly burst in and told her to go home with her. Now, she was sitting in an old, dusty library that was severally affecting her allergies.

"What did you want to see be bor, Giku-chan?" Chie asked with a stuffed nose.

"This book I found," Riku responded as she took a large book off the shelf and blew on it. Chie sneezed five times.

Chie blew her nose until she no longer sounded like a duck had been crammed up her nose and read the title. "Fortune of the Four Angels? What's it about?"

"I'm not sure," Riku admitted and sat down next to Chie. "I was paging through it and found a picture of something." Riku opened the book to a page and pointed to a picture. "See?"

Chie squinted at the picture.

"_It's you, Anko-chan!"_ she exclaimed.

Anas nodded. _"This is certainly strange."_

"Do you know what it is?" Riku asked eagerly.

"Not really," Chie admitted.

Riku's face dropped. "Weird. I mean, that girl looks a little like you, don't you think? And look at this." Riku turned the page. "This girl almost looks like your sister!"

"May I take a look at it?"

"Uh-huh."

Chie took the book and started skimming through it.

"By the way, did you ever find out what that red stuff was? On Daisuke, I mean."

"Uh, I think it was paint. Emiko-san didn't make a big deal out of it, so I guessed it."

"I see."

Chie squinted at the text. It was incredibly tiny, like the font was below five, and the fact that the book was practically falling apart didn't help. Still, how could a book so old and crumbling have such brilliantly colorful illustrations?

"Hey, this is a song!" Chie exclaimed after a moment. "In English!"

"What is?" Riku asked, leaning over and stared.

Chie read it out loud.

"On the day you left I just waved goodbye as usual, as if we were to meet again in this city

To believe in love is not to lose to myself

Until my wish comes true, I'll remain with a smile and look at the stars, praying for your return

I want to be the sky for you

Even if it means taking in all of your pains

Whenever I look up, I want to fell as if I'm not alone

Let there be a place I can return to . . . "

Riku sat back on her heels. "I didn't know you could read English so well."

"How strange. This song, the tune . . . it's almost like 'Onnagokoro'."

Suddenly, the locket started to glow. Chie didn't notice it at all, but Riku sure did. She jumped to her feet and gasped.

"Is something wrong, Giku-chan?" Chie asked.

"Your locket," Riku said. "It's glowing."

Chie looked down at it. "Maybe it's one of those electric ones."

Riku backed away from her. "Do they always float?"

Chie stared at the glowing locket. It wasn't one color, but many, like an opal. She stared at it and a dazed expression took over her face. The book fell out of her hands. Chie continued to stare at the glowing locket. Tears fell from her expressionless eyes. Riku took a few steps toward her friend.

"Chie?"

Chie closed her eyes and the tears splattered onto the locket. Slowly, she toppled over and fainted.

"_Anko-chan, why does it hurt?" _Chie asked.

"_What do you mean?" _Anas asked.

"_My body . . . it feels extremely cold, but it hurts. I thought when you got cold you felt nothing, not pain."_

Both Anas and Chie were on the ground. Anas was sitting with her legs tucked neatly beneath her and she was hugging Chie. Chie was motionless in her arms. Motionless and freezing.

"_How much does it hurt?"_

"_Like I can't breathe. To draw breath hurts too much."_

"_You read 'Onnagokoro' in its original version."_

"_Original version?"_

"'_Onnagokoro' was originally called 'Motherland'. It was changed after---Well, that doesn't matter. Still, hearing it made me sad and my tears fell onto the locket."_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_It's all right."_

"_Am I dying?"_

Anas's eyes widened. _"No, why?"_

"_I feel no warmth. The dead are always cold."_

"_Yes, but then again the dead don't feel pain."_

"Chie-chan! Chie! Please wake up!"

Chie opened her eyes a little. "Giku-chan," she whispered. "Rada-san."

"Are you okay?" Risa asked. "Riku told me you fainted."

"Everything hurts."

"You've been fainting a lot lately," Risa said. "I think you should go a see a doctor."

"That was so weird, though," Riku said. "You were just singing that song and then suddenly---"

At the very moment, the girls heard a loud crash. The large window in the back of the library broke and sent shards of glass flying. The girls scrambled to their feet and ran for the door. Something, however, grabbed Chie's arm, preventing her from leaving.

"Let me go!" Chie shouted. "Giku-chan, Rada-san, help me!"

The girls turned around and gasped. They had no idea what was going on. They only knew that a girl with short, golden curls and golden wings was holding on to Chie's arm as she tried to run away.

"Hi, girls!" she said. "I'm Sana and I'm taking Chie with me, okay?"

"Sana?" Risa asked with s shocked expression on her face.

"Oh, no you don't!" Riku said, trying to hide her fright. "Let Chie go!"

"And why should I do that? Listen, why don't you be good little girls and take The Fortune of the Four Angels to Kikuko?"

"To Kikuko?" Risa asked.

"Chie's grandmother?" Riku asked.

Chie turned to Sana. "What do you want with me? Please, let me go!"

Sana smiled and let go of Chie. Chie started to run away, but she suddenly stopped. Her eyes were wide with horror.

"I can't . . . I can't move!" she whispered.

"Hey, I can't move either!" Riku exclaimed. "Risa, can you?"

"No!"

"Come with me, Chie-chan," Sana said in a sing-song voice.

Slowly, Chie started moving backwards.

"Let me go!" Chie shouted and struggled to run forward. "Please, let me go!"

Suddenly, Chie gasped. She sank to her knees and, with trembling hands, reached up to her throat.

_I can't breathe! I can't see! Giku-chan . . . Rada-san_ . . .

Sana grabbed the trembling girl around the waist and pulled her close.

"Bye, girls!" Sana called cheerfully. "Don't forget what I said!"

With that, Sana flew quickly out the window.

Risa gasped. "Riku, did you say that! She had wings! Just like Dark-san!"

"That's not all I noticed," Riku said grimly.

"What do you mean?"

"The way Chie was being held back was different. Her clothes bunched in places. And did you see when she fell? It looked like she couldn't breathe."

Risa frowned. "I don't get it. Why did that girl come and take Chie? What could she possibly want with Chie?"

Riku picked up the copy of The Fortune of the Four Angels. "Guess we'll have to go see Kikuko to find out."

"Let me see if I have this story straight," Kikuko said. "Riku-chan, you and Uta were in your house. You found a book, Uta sang the song that the book contained, her locket glowed, and she fainted. You went to get Risa-chan, Uta woke up, and, according to Risa-chan, someone 'like a brighter, girl version of Dark' showed up, kidnapped her, and told you two to bring this tattered book to me?"

"I know it sounds farfetched, but that's really what happened," Risa said.

Kikuko sighed. "Never thought this would happen in my lifetime. I thought she had been sealed for good."

The twins' eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked

"It means I need to have a talk with the Niwa family."

_I finally have a reader! Yay, yay, YAY! Thank you so much for reading and I hope I won't disappoint you (though I probably will, knowing my lack of talent and the fact that I might be coming down with something). Anyway, some weird stuff will be revealed in the next chapter, so I hope you'll remember that this has nothing to do with the original series._


	13. Family Curse

The doorbell rang.

"Just a minute!" Emiko called and opened the door. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Kikuko.

"Ekisha . . . sama," she said slowly.

Kikuko nodded. "It's nice to see you . . . Emiko-chan."

Both women stood gazing at each for quite a long time. Risa interrupted the silence.

"Um, do you two know each other?" she asked.

The sound of Risa's voice seemed to break whatever trance Emiko was in. "Oh, you're here, too? Well, come in, everybody."

Kikuko, Riku, and Risa followed Emiko into the living room. Daiki looked up from the paper he was reading and stared at their guests.

"It's been years since the last ceremony, Kikuko. What brings you back?"

Kikuko sighed. "Sana."

Emiko gasped and sat down. "Sana? Papa, but you said that Sana had been sealed years ago."

"Well, she was sealed, but I guess the magic of four families just wasn't strong to contain her," Kikuko said.

"Does the Shinchu family know?" Daiki asked.

"I'm pretty sure it was them that broke the seal. Even though they knew Sana was more dangerous than all the angels, they still wanted to keep her encoded in their DNA. We practically had to hold down Kaiein to separate them, remember?"

"Uh, not to be rude or anything, but what are you talking about?" Riku asked. "What exactly is going on?" Risa added.

Emiko stared at the girls and then turned her gaze back to Kikuko. "Were they the ones that saw, Ekisha-sama?"

Kikuko nodded. "Yes, so I guess it's unfair to leave them out of the loop." She turned to the girls and began explaining. "There are four families involved in all this: Niwa, Hikari, Ryoyu, and Shinchu. I'll talk about the first half first. One family was composed of great artists and the other family of great thieves. The artists were trying to bring to life one of their prized sculptures, but the thieves tried to steal it. This disrupted the ceremony and two separate entities were born. Thos entities were then integrated into the DNA of each family as a curse. Now, the two remaining families were called upon to create two other beings to combat the curses. Something went wrong with their ceremony as well. Those beings that were created were also integrated into the DNA of the families."

"Ekisha-san, is one of those entities Dark-san?" Risa asked.

"Yes. The others are called Krad, Anas, and Sana. Dark is in the Niwa DNA, Krad is in the Hikari DNA, Sana in the Shinchu DNA, and Anas in the Ryoyu DNA."

"Ryoyu DNA!" Riku exclaimed. "Isn't that---Wait, are you saying that someone in your family is Anas?"

"Yes."

"And Niwa DNA means---"

Kikuko stood up, interrupting Risa. "Let's go, you two. It's getting late and I need to close the bakery."

Riku and Risa stood up.

"But Chie---?" Riku started.

"She'll be fine," Kikuko assured them. "She's not stupid, you know?"

Silently, Kikuko walked the girls home, hoping her words were correct.


	14. The Magician

Chie blinked twice and then opened her eyes wide. She stared at the empty bright abyss.

"Where . . . am I?" she asked, standing up.

"A dimension," Sana said and appeared in front of her.

Chie gasped and started to run away. Sana grabbed the back of her blouse and forced her to turn around. Chie, breathless, turned and stared into Sana's penetrating eyes.

"Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" she asked.

Chie couldn't respond. She felt that if she did, she would start crying. Already, her eyes burned with yet-to-fall tears. Sana clamped her hands on Chie's shoulders and dug her nails into her flesh. Chie gasped at the sudden pain and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Aw, don't cry," Sana said, grinning. "Don't cry. You look so much like Anas when she killed herself. I bet you even have the scar."

"Sc-scar?"

"In the middle of your chest, somewhere near your collarbone, there should be a scar. Look." One of Sana's feathers cut a bit of the top of Chie's blouse. Just as Sana had said, there was a scar there: a pinkish oval-shaped slash.

_I've never noticed that before._

"_Kaikatsu, let me talk to Sana."_

Chie didn't even respond. She was stiff with shock and fear.

"_Kaikatsu, listen to me! She's going to kill you."_

"You know what the interesting thing is?" Sana asked, releasing Chie's shoulders. Her nails were covered with crimson blood. She twirled a lock of Chie's hair. "Your face, eyes, nose, mouth, ears; they all look exactly like Anas's. You're almost like her mirror image. Sure, you're not really pretty and your colorings may be slightly different, but other than that . . ."

Sana stopped talking when she noticed Chie's lips moving.

"Speak up," she said.

"Why?" Chie whispered, trembling. "Why do you . . . keep repeating history?"

Sana grinned and grabbed Chie once more. "Why, little one? Let me show you why."

With that, Sana pushed Chie off the bright abyss into something dark.

"_Kaikatsu!"_

Luckily, someone caught her in mid-fall.

Sana frowned. "Dark."

Chie's eyes opened wide. Her chest fell and rose rapidly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Dark asked.

_I can't breathe well. My lungs feel like they're freezing over. I'm getting cold. What---? Anko-chan!_

There's was no time for explanations from anyone. Chie's body grew longer. Her hair slowly became redder than brown and her eyes lightened.

Dark gasped. "Saki!"

Saki stared at him and flew out of his arms. "Dark, it's you!"

"Well, what an unexpected surprise," Sana said, smiling. "I haven't seen you in quite a while, Dark. And the last time I saw Anas was in Hinageshi."

Dark blinked. The name sounded familiar. Then he remembered the conversation Daisuke had had with Chie.

"_Why do you have lots of poppy flowers here?"_

"_For Hinageshi."_

"_Hinageshi?"_

"_Poppy flowers were my mom's favorite flowers. She was even named after them. See? Hinageshi means 'poppy flower'."_

"You mean Chie's mom?" Dark asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. I killed Hinageshi Ryoyu, Jin Ryoyu, Madoka Shinchu, and Ryo Shinchu." She held up four fingers, smiling proudly. "And those idiots were the parents of Shikatsu and, according to Anas, Kaikatsu."

"You're a disgrace," Dark snarled. "A disgrace to all of us."

"Disgrace? Oh, please." Sana rolled her eyes. "How am I a disgrace? Aren't you one, too? And isn't Anas also a disgrace? After all, she did kill me for something that was all your fault."

Anas gasped and turned to Dark. "What? What is she---?"

"Shut up, Sumiko!" Dark shouted. "Don't tell Saki."

Sana grinned. She was clearly enjoying this. "Don't tell your beloved Saki what? Don't tell her that---?"

Before Sana finished her sentence, Dark charged toward her with murder in his eyes. Before Dark could even strike a blow, someone brushed him off.

"Krad!" both Anas and Dark said at the same time.

Krad smiled at them both. "Dark, Saki, nice to see you. Now, Dark, why were getting near Sumiko?"

"He's so mean, Krad," Sana said in whimpering voice. She even managed to fake a sob. A very realistic fake sob.

"You dare hurt Sumiko again, Dark!" Krad demanded. "Now I really must kill you!"

_Okay, so it turns out that I have come down with something and I'm not sure what it is. I just know that I have a really high fever. Not high enough that I can miss school, but high enough to leave me very uncomfortable. Anyway, does anyone have a clue about what's going on? Dark did something bad that hurt Sana and Anas very deeply. Maybe even Krad! Oooh . . . Nah, it's not really that bad. Well, I guess it depends on your point of view._


	15. Ekaterina's Desperare

Chie looked around and saw Daisuke and Satoshi.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"It's a dimension in which we communicate," Satoshi explained.

"Dimension?"

Chie realized she was sitting down and stood up.

"If you listen closely, you can hear what they're saying," Daisuke said.

Chie closed her eyes and concentrated. Very faintly, she heard several shouts and the next thing she knew was a sharp, searing pain on her back. The pain was so intense that it made her gasp and the blow nearly knocked her over. Daisuke grabbed her before she toppled over completely.

"Wha-what happened?" Chie asked.

"Someone must've hit you---err, Anas," Daisuke said.

"You know about Anas?" Chie asked with surprise.

"We both know about Anas," Satoshi said.

Chie's eyes shifted from Daisuke to Satoshi and then back to Daisuke.

"Um, how long have you known this?"

"Only a few weeks," Daisuke said.

Chie walked around the bright, kaleidoscope-like space.

"This is so strange," she mumbled. "It's like being inside a mirror."

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Chie noticed something. It was a large door. It was large and made out of stone. Chiseled into the stone were several words in languages Chie didn't know. Smack in the middle of the stone door was a poem:

Angry emotions

Human weaknesses spill blood

And my heart still breaks

"What is this?" Chie asked, rubbing her fingers across the poem. "How sad. What happened?" She turned to the two boys. "What is this thing? What's beyond it?"

"Don't open it," Satoshi mumbled quietly.

"But why not?" Chie asked.

They didn't answer. Chie frowned.

"I'm going to open it," she said and pushed the door.

"Chie-san, don't!" Daisuke said.

His warning came a little too late. The door swung open. Chie gazed at what she saw with wonder.

At first, all Chie saw was a bunch of images swimming inside the door. She couldn't figure out what the images were. Suddenly, one image stopped and became as clear as day.

"It's . . . Anko-chan," she whispered. "But who are the other people?"

Anas turned to face her. "Kaikatsu!" she exclaimed.

Sana hit Anas in the face and turned to Chie. "It's you! I thought you separated from Anas."

"Ryoyu, close that door immediately!" Satoshi shouted.

A normal person would've closed the door so the bloodthirsty angel wouldn't reach them. But Chie was too stunned to even move. She watched Sana hit Anas again and something in her snapped.

"Stop hurting Anko-chan!" she cried and jumped out of the kaleidoscope-like abyss and into the bright white one. She ran up to Sana and tried to hit her, but Sana knocked her down.

Scowling, Sana said, "I don't have time to argue with you." Several of the golden feathers fell on the ground of the bright space and formed an eight-pointed star. Out of the star rose a mirror in the shape of the star. The mirror dripped with something red. Was it blood?

"It's Ekaterina's Desperare!" Krad exclaimed.

"Don't do it!" Anas shouted.

"Ekaterina's Desperare?" A sudden image of a woman with white hair and silvery gray eyes came to Chie's mind. She blinked and the image disappeared. Seeing only the bizarre mirror, she turned to Anas and asked, "Anko-chan, what is---?"

The mirror cast a red glow on the three children and they vanished.

_Ah, Ekaterina's Desperare. It's a really creepy mirror made by a wicked little child. It's meant to torture whoever is sent beyond it with excruciating pain (both mental and physical). And I think Chie's going to suffer more than anyone else (considering the fact that Amonisha-chan will kill me if I hurt Daisuke). And Ekaterina will also appear later on (though I'm not sure if in this fanfic or the next)._


	16. Purity

Purity

"Hiwatari, where are we?" Daisuke asked.

"I don't know," Satoshi replied.

They had found themselves in a strange, snowy field. Snowflakes circled around lazily and gently kissed their cheeks. The surroundings and sky were all white.

"How did we get here?" Daisuke asked, wandering around a little. This proved to be a difficult task because the snow was very deep.

Before Satoshi could answer, the wind picked up. The snow whirled around and blinded both boys for a few seconds. When it died down, the snowfall had stopped.

"What was that?" Daisuke asked. "That wind just came out of nowhere."

"Niwa, look!" Satoshi exclaimed and pointed at something in the distance.

Daisuke turned and looked. A pale blue shape was coming toward them. It appeared to be gliding on the snow. It grew closer and closer toward the boys until it was standing right in front of them. They now saw it was a person dressed in a long, pale blue cloak. When it lifted its head, the boys realized it was a teenaged girl with straight brown hair and cornflower blue eyes.

"Who are you?" Daisuke asked politely. "Can you tell us where we are?"

The girl stared at Daisuke and a sad smile slowly formed on her face. She opened her mouth and moved her lips, but no sound came out.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you," Daisuke said.

The smile faded. The girl moved her lips again, but no audible sound came out. She knelt down and wrote something on the snow.

"P-E-N-E-L-O-P-E. Penelope. Is that your name?"

The girl smiled once again and nodded. She motioned for Daisuke and Satoshi to follow her and started walking forward, Daisuke was about to follow her, but Satoshi grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Can we trust her?" he asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Daisuke asked, visibly surprised.

"We're in Ekaterina's Desperare."

"Ekaterina's Desperare?"

"Yes. It's the mirror Sana had. This is probably all a trap."

"But . . ."

Just then, a shadow fell over them. The boys looked up and realized it was Penelope. Slowly, she knelt down until she could see both boys eye to eye. Penelope smiled at them and gently pried Satoshi's hand off of Daisuke's arm. She took Satoshi's hand and, like an older sister leading her little brother, led him down the path she had just walked. A little confused, Daisuke followed them. Even if Satoshi had wanted to run, he couldn't have because Penelope was grasping his hand so hard.

"Penelope-san, where are we going?" Daisuke asked.

Penelope turned to him and smiled her sad smile. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it before even trying to talk. After a few minutes of walking, Penelope stopped. The boys looked up and saw an enormous stone structure. It appeared to be made out of white marble and was shaped like a cube. There were deep lines forming a rectangle in the structure, indicating there was a door, but no handle to grab and open it with.

"What is this?" Satoshi asked.

Penelope let go of the boys' hands. She raised her right hand and slapped her fingers against her palm. The door of the structure opened. Penelope turned around and motioned for the boys to follow here. The boys did.

The inside of the structure smelled fresh and cold like the snow outside. There were stairs leading down to a tiny room. Around the room were many candles. The light of the candles glowed on the white walls. The walls had inscriptions on them written in red paint. Or was it blood?

Penelope walked towards the walls facing east and touched the writing. She opened her mouth and started to speak. This time, the boys could hear her voice and the words, both their meanings and the tone Penelope was speaking in, broke their hearts.

"The redness flowed out

And enveloped

Everything

Unspeakable pain

Crimson rivers

Painful Cries . . ."

Penelope's voice changed. It was filled with not only sadness, but regret as well.

"'The Law of Equivalent Exchange

Is an unbalanced equation'

You told me this every day

But I didn't believe

'The Law of Equivalent Exchange

Is an unbalanced equation'

I understand what you meant

I know why you said 'don't'

But it is too late

Alchemy's law

Spilled our blood

And I have foreseen

Painful battles

Myriad tears . . ."  
Penelope tore her eyes away from the wall and faced the boys, her eyes desperate. Her voice had the distinct sound of someone begging for a small shred of hope in a hopeless situation.

"Please give me answers

What shall I do?

They will die!"

"What do you mean?" Daisuke asked. "Who's 'they'?"

Tears filled Penelope's eyes. She took her hand away from the wall and pointed at . . .

"Us?" Daisuke asked, wide-eyed.

"Are you planning on killing us?" Satoshi asked.

Penelope shook her head and tried to speak, but neither one of the boys could hear her. She placed her hand on the wall and read the last inscription.

"I won't allow it!

Please, help them!

Please, help me . . ."

Penelope's voice was loud and stubborn in the beginning, but by the end, it grew softer and sadder until it was nothing more than a sad plea. She sighed and sank to her knees.

Daisuke ran toward her and knelt in front of her. "Penelope-san, are you all right?"

Penelope shook her head. She drew back her cloak and Daisuke gasped. Her other arm was missing!

"What . . . what happened?" Daisuke whispered.

Penelope moved her lips and, although no sound came out, Daisuke understood her. She had already repeated the words a few times.

"Equivalent Exchange?"

Penelope nodded. She turned to Satoshi and several tears spilled out of her eyes. Satoshi stared at her, not quite sure whether or not he could trust her. She motioned for Satoshi to come toward her. When Satoshi reached her, Penelope finally spoke without the aid of the wall. In a hoarse voice, she said, "Sa . . . sa . . . ya. . . death . . ."

_I . . . I need to catch my breath! Wait a sec. Why am I running? _

Chie stopped running and immediately collapsed, breathing hard. Her heart was pounding madly in her ears. It was raining very hardand the raindrops hurt Chie when they hit her. They felt like a million little punches.

_Where am I? _

Chie scanned the area. She could make out what appeared to be mountains surrounded by a misty fog. Chie sat up with great difficulty and shivered.

_How did I get here? The last thing I remember is that mirror and . . . that girl hitting Anko-chan. _

"Anas."

Chie jumped up at the sudden voice and turned around. What she saw made her smile.

"Ku-chan, hi!"

Sasaya stared at Chie without any hint of emotion whatsoever.With her exhaustion seemingly gone, Chie ran up to her sister and started rambling.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you, Ku-chan! Do you have any idea as to what's going on? I really don't get it. Do you know who was hitting Anko-chan? Oh, silly me! You don't know who she is. See, there's this thing and---"

Chie stopped talking abruptly when Sasaya grabbed her by the shoulder and pointed a sharp, flat stiletto to her neck.

"Ku-chan?" Chie asked, wide-eyed.

"You killed me," Sasaya said.

"What?"

"You said nothing would come between us. You promised me nothing would come between us!" Sasaya screeched, her eyes filled with hatred. "But you went back on your promise and killed me!"

Chie gasped, pushed Sasaya away, and started to run.

_Oh, my God! My sister . . . my sister's gone crazy! _

Chie didn't watch where she was running to and accidentally ran into a cave. In the cave, she saw someone with red hair running toward her. Chie immediately recognized the person.

"Anko-chan!"

Chie ran until she noticed something a bit odd. Why was Anas wet and why did she have the same frightened, breathless face Chie knew must've matched her own. Chie stopped and reached out to touch Anas's hand. Anas also reached for her hand. However, all Chie's hand touched was a cold, smooth surface. With a start, Chie realized that wasn't Anas at all, but a reflection in a mirror. A reflection of herself.

"What's going on?" Chie asked out loud, running her hands through her now red curls. "How can this be? Why do I look like Anko-chan?"

"ANAS!"

Chie turned around a second too late. Sasaya grabbed her and pushed her. The mirror broke, sending hundreds of tiny, bloodstained shards flying.

_I have finally updated! (like anyone cares) The reason I had taken so long was because my previous computer had completely crashed. Poor Yasuko-chan (that was my computer's name). I will miss her dearly! ;; My new computer's name is Miho-chan. I adore her, but she can never replace Yasuko-chan. Since Yasuko-chan is no longer with us, I had to pretty much rewrite everything and since my memory's not good, most of the new chapters will suck (and I had Motherland completely finished, too). I also had half of The Land Beyond the Door finished and six chapters for I Will. Now Ryokichi-chan will scold me for messing with people (again). You see, I don't publish a fanfic unless I have at least ten chapters all ready to go. The reason I don't update as often as I should is because I kind of like making people wait. It's a really bad habit, but I'm a procrastinator with an essay due by Friday so . . . ehh. Besides, I don't have internet at home, and when I do, I can use it up to thirty minutes (sixty if I can get away with it) a day and only under the guise of schoolwork. Basically, I never got around to it and paid for my laziness with the rest of my fanfics. The Law of Equivalent Exchange really sucks! _


	17. Hate

Anas knelt down and picked up Ekaterina's Desperare.

"Kaikatsu," she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

Dark approached her slowly from behind. "Saki, don't worry. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"How do you know?" Anas asked softly, not bothering to face Dark.

"Well, because. I mean. . ."

"You don't know anything at all." Anas stood up and faced Dark. She was frowning. "Do you know what it's like to die millions of times? Do you?"

Dark's eyes widened with surprise. "What are you talking about?"

Anas's eyes turned a darker green, indicating she was very angry. "I've been coming back again and again. It's been hundreds of years now. And every time I come back, Sana kills me and whatever unfortunate girl I happen to share a body with. And she keeps saying it's your fault." Her frown vanished and she sighed wearily. "Dark, what did you do? What did _I _do? Why does Sana hate us so much?"

Dark closed his eyes and lowered his head. "I don't know. I can't remember."

"Anas, do you really want to know what happened?"

Before anyone could react, Sana grabbed Anas's arm and dug her fingernails in her flesh. Anas gritted her teeth to avoid crying out. Sana stood on her the tips of her toes to whisper something into Anas's ear.

"Do you _really _want to know? Do you?"

"Yes, tell me. Please."

"Aw, pwetty wittle Anas want to know the twuth?" Sana asked in a babyish voice.

Anas nodded. "Yes."

Sana grinned and pushed Anas. Dark grabbed her before she fell completely.

"Are you okay?" he asked and immediately felt stupid. Anas had five small wounds with blood seeping out of them. How could that be considered okay?

"Well, since she's so eager, why don't we tell her the truth, Krad?" Sana asked.

Krad walked over toward them and smiled. "Of course. We must tell her that Dark is the cause of all this."

Anas pulled herself away from Dark's grasp and stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise and disbelief. "Dark, you started this?"

Noticing the shocked expression on Dark's face, Sana smiled with glee. "You knew this would come back to haunt you sooner or later, didn't you?"

"Shut up, Sumiko!" Dark raised his arm to hit Sana, but Anas grabbed it in midair.

"Stop," she said softly. "Sana, tell me."

Sana laughed until her face turned red from the lack of air. "I'm sorry," she said when she could finally catch her breath. "It's just . . . I wish I could find a way to document this moment." She smiled sweetly. "Do you remember when we lived beyond the Portal?"

"Portal?" Anas asked, surprised.

Sana wagged her finger at Anas like a teacher scolding a student. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Anas. I can't believe you've forgotten. That's where we were born. Everyone comes from somewhere. Now, we were all really good friends back then, right, Krad?"

Krad and Sana started laughing. Dark gritted his teeth. He wanted nothing more than to make both of them go away, but knew Anas wouldn't let him. Why did they have to enjoy it so much?

"I had Krad and you had Dark," Sana continued. "Of course, we all know Dark likes to mess around with girls, right, Dark?"

"Saki, that's not---!"

_SMACK! _Krad and Sana gasped with surprise and the sound of the slap echoed throughout the vast emptiness. Dark stumbled backwards and fell on the ground. After a few seconds, Dark picked himself up. It took a few more seconds for his numb cheek grew hot. He felt a sliver of blood running down his chin. Dark looked up at Anas.

Anas was trembling with rage. Her hands were balled into fists and she looked on the verge of tears. She stared at Dark with so much anger that he was sure she was going to hit him again.

"I think she's figured it out," Sana whispered to Krad.

"Saki, please let me explain," Dark said and walked towards her.

Anas slapped him again. "I apologize for not giving you fair warning the first time I slapped you," she said in an icy, unemotional voice. "Approach me again and I will hurt you."

"But---"

This time, Anas punched him in the jaw. Dark staggered a little before falling to his knees. He looked up at Anas with an extremely sad expression.

"Dark," Anas said, her voice as cold as a Siberian wind, "I hate you." She turned and faced Sana and Krad. "I apologize for the sadness Dark has caused you two, but what you did to the children is unforgivable." Several feathers whirled around Anas and started glowing. "I promise you will be punished."

"_On that day you left, I just waved good bye as usual,_

_as if we were to meet again in this city . . ."_

Sana threw back her head and cackled. "_You _punish _us_? That's a good one. You always were great at telling jokes, Anas." She grabbed Krad's hand and chanted a spell. Their golden feathers glowed and Sana smiled at Anas. "Still, I can already tell it's _you _that's going to suffer."

"_To believe in love is to not lose to myself_

_Until my wish comes true, I'll remain with a smile_

_and look at the stars, praying, and will be here . . ."_

Meanwhile, Dark was lost in his own thoughts.

_Saki . . . Saki . . . Saki . . . What did I do? I can't really remember. How horrible was it? How much did I hurt you? Was it my fault that Sumiko was killed? Is that why both she and Krad hate me so much? And now you hate me, too. Does Daisuke hate me? Does he know anything about this?_

"Dark!"

Dark looked up and saw everything was fuzzy. The world around him was dimming. Why was that?

"_I want to be the sky for you_

_So I can take away your sorrows, too . . ."_

"Dark, move!" Anas shouted.

Now he saw it. Anas, with blood running down her arms and face. Krad, holding her back. Sana, with only one wound on her wings, her razor sharp nails aiming for him.

"_Whenever I look up, I want to feel that I'm not alone even if I'm far away . . ."_

Anas struggled against Krad's grip. "Dark! Dark!" she shouted desperately, as if trying to remove whatever spell had paralyzed him.

"DIE!" Sana shouted, her face lit up by her cute smile.

The last thing Dark saw was Anas's golden red curls. The last thing he heard was the red-haired angel screaming his name.

"_Let there be a place I can return to . . ."_

_Well, this chapter kind of sucked. It's difficult to rewrite something like this because you can't really get in the mood, you know? And those italicized words with quotation marks were lyrics from "Motherland". I didn't know what else to do, so I added them in._


	18. Lie of the Light

Satoshi grabbed Penelope by the collar of her blouse and pulled her close.

"What do you mean by that?" he demanded. "Are you saying Sasaya's going to die?"

Daisuke grabbed Satoshi's arms. "Hiwatari, let her go!"

Reluctantly, Satoshi let go of Penelope. She closed her eyes and heaved a tired sigh.

"I can't talk when I'm surrounded by purity," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "That was one of the things I had to give up. The snow is so pure that it wouldn't allow someone as impure as me to talk to you, even if it was for a good cause. This building allows me to speak, but it hurts to talk any louder than this. I hope you can understand me."

Daisuke and Satoshi sat down in front of her.

"What are you?" Satoshi asked.

Penelope smiled. "I mean you no harm. I'm not from this world. And I guess I'm human."

"Um, Penelope-san, what's going on?" Daisuke asked. "Why are we here?"

"This is a dimension in which you are meant to suffer. My words could very well destroy you, but I don't want that to happen. I need to tell you to take care. Strange things are going to happen if this goes on any longer.

"If what goes on any longer?" Daisuke asked.

"I assume you know how those beings were created."

"Yeah, when a magic ceremony was interrupted."

"What kind of magic ceremony was it?"

Confusion crossed Daisuke's face. "I don't know." He turned to Satoshi. "Do you know?"

The anger on Satoshi's face vanished a little and was replaced by sheer confusion. "No."

Penelope opened and closed her eyes slowly before telling them the answer.

"It was alchemy."

"Owwww . . ."

Chie opened her eyes slowly. She sat up and felt sharp pains all around her body. She was about to scream, but thought it wouldn't be wise and simply sucked her breath in sharply through her teeth. She had several small cuts from the glass mirror. Blood was running down a few of her wounds and her head ached from falling on the hard, rock floor of the other side of the cave. Silently, she started to cry.

_I don't get this, _she thought as she hugged herself and trembled. _I'm cold and wet and I hurt all over. And Ku-chan's acting crazy. I don't want to be here! Kiku-san, Dai-kun, Giku-chan, Anko-chan, please help me. Someone please help me! _

"The lie of the light."

Chie gasped. She recognized the voice. Slowly, she turned around and saw Sasaya standing behind her.

"Ku-chan," she whispered.

Sasaya grabbed Chie's hair and pulled. Chie let out a short cry, but that just made Sasaya tighten her grip.

"Do you know what that means? It means that everything is lie. Light isn't always good. Light can be darkness as well. And besides, who can judge these things? What does anyone know about light and darkness anyway? What most people recognize instantly is the darkness. The darkness brought forth by stupid emotions that make others do stupid things."

"Ku-chan, please, let go of my hair," Chie pleaded.

Instead of letting go, Sasaya pulled the girl's hair even harder and slammed her face against the cave well several times. Chie cried and yelled, but Sasaya wouldn't stop.

After a few more minutes, Sasaya let go of her hair. Chie drew her hands up to her face. She had a bloody nose and her lip was bruised. Her forehead felt wet with bloody scrapes.

"Told you," Sasaya said with strange satisfaction. "I don't look like that type of person who would mercilessly hurt you, do I?"

Chie looked up at her with rivers of tears and blood running down her face. "But you're not! Ku-chan, this isn't you. You would never do something like this."

Sasaya slapped her and grabbed her by the collar of her dress. "I'm not Ku-chan, you damn bitch! Never was, never will be. I'm Sana, the one you mercilessly killed." She raised her other arm and Chie gasped. The other hand held the sharp stiletto with its sharp edge pointing at her!

"Die!" Sasaya shouted and brought down the blade.

Chie squeezed her eyes shut and shouted, "KU-CHAN!"

_A stupid fly is buzzing around my room. Out, fly, out! Anyway, the next chapter's going to be kinda sad._


	19. The Empress

Dark thought he was dead because all he could see was darkness. Then he realized that lights were swimming before his eyes. There was something red. It looked like a red flower bud. As it started to bloom, Dark realized it was anything but a flower bud. Five blood-red nails poked out of Anas's back. She had caught them before they hit Dark. Even now, she was still grasping them in her hands.

"Why?" Dark whispered. "Why did you . . .?"

Sana was scowling. She looked like a child that had just been grounded.

"Why did you do that!" she screeched. "Why?"

Anas didn't respond. Sana withdrew her nails and slapped Anas. Anas fell to her knees and grabbed the front of her bloody dress. She stared at the blood with a strange look of disbelief on her face.

"Why the hell did you defend that bastard!" Sana screeched, furious tears spilling out of her eyes. "Why? Why! WHY!"

"I couldn't let it happen," Anas whispered slowly. "I just . . ."

Sana let out a furious roar and was about to hit Anas again, but two arms wrapped themselves around her and held her back.

"Krad, let me go!" Sana shouted.

"Leave her be," Krad said.

"No! I won't!"

Sana thrashed around wildly, trying to free herself from Krad's grasp. Krad wouldn't let her go, no matter how much she kicked and clawed and screamed.

Dark slowly walked forward. After about three steps, his legs grew weak and he fell to his knees. Anas turned around and smiled at him. It was a sad, semi-happy smile. There was a trickle of blood running down the corner of her lips.

"Dark," she said softly.

Something about that smile made his heart break in two.

"Why did you do that?" Dark shouted. "How could you do something like that after saying you hate me? Are you stupid or something?"

"I . . ."

Anas closed her eyes and her head fell on Dark's lap.

"Saki! Saki!" Dark shouted.

Anas's eyes opened halfway. "Dark . . . it's getting . . . fuzzy," she whispered.

A lump was forming in Dark's throat. "Why did you do it?" he managed to ask.

"Why?" Anas drew a shaky breath. "I . . . don't . . . know."

Something hot pricked Dark's eyes. A tear slowly dripped down his cheek and splattered below Anas's eye so that it looked like she had shed a tear as well.

"Dark . . . please . . . don't . . ." Anas lifted one trembling hand to Dark's face and brushed off another tear. It left a streak of her blood on his cheek. "Don't . . . do . . . that. Sing . . ."

"Sing! What the hell---!"

Anas placed her index finger over Dark's lips. She smiled softly. "Do it. Sing . . . that part . . . my favorite . . ."

Dark swallowed the lump in his throat and sang out slowly, trying his hardest not to let the tears get the best of him.

"There's a hidden meaning to all things that happen

I hope you'll remain yourself even if your dream begins to disappear because I'll always be here

It's okay even if you're not strong enough to erase all tears

After you rest your tired heart

wish for a better tomorrow and fall asleep

like the young children

This vast world is connected

The white clouds will flow and turn into wind to reach you . . ."

Anas's eyes glowed with happiness. "Thank you. It's a . . . beautiful . . . song . . . isn't it?"

Dark nodded. "Yeah."

"We . . . used to . . . sing . . . it. Back then . . . remember? Now . . . we can't . . ."

Anas closed her eyes. When she opened them, there was a darker light in them. The happiness had vanished and was replaced by intense sadness.

"Dark . . . I want . . . you . . . to . . . know . . ."

Her eyes slowly dimmed and her hand fell back down.

"Saki?" Dark asked.

With one final breath, she breathed, "Dark."

Her head fell to one side. No more blood pulsated out of her wound. Her body grew cold.

"Saki, you didn't finish your sentence!" Dark shouted and shook her. "Saki, tell me! Answer me, dammit! Saki! Saki!"

Dark stopped shaking her and his eyes grew wide to let the heavy tears flow. They fell on Anas's face, but this time she didn't raise her hand to brush them away. The dead can't brush away a loved one's tears. All that's left for uncared tears is to drop down and be forgotten.

Dark wrapped his arms around Saki and hugged her close. He rocked himself back and forth and buried his face in her hair.

"Saki," he whispered. "Saki."

Meanwhile, Dark's display of emotion infuriated Sana even more. Her screeching finally got Dark's attention and he looked up. Both Sana and Krad seemed like indistinct little blurs. In his mind, the danger that Sana posed no longer existed. His grief overpowered it.

"I hate you! I HATE YOU!" she shouted, straining to get to Anas.

"Sumiko, stop this now!" Krad ordered.

"I won't! I was supposed to kill Dark, not Anas."

Dark stared at them blankly.

"You realize this is your fault, right, Dark!" Krad demanded. "Don't try to pin this down on anyone else. It is your fault through and through."

Dark could see Krad holding back Sana and Sana thrashing about, shouting even more offensive words toward Anas. He stared at them, yet it was like they didn't exist. Anas was . . . dead. What could he do? What could he do at that point?

_They're right, _he thought. _It's my fault. It's no use saying I was kidding. It's my fault._

"You think crying is going to earn you sympathy!" Sana screeched, angrier at the sight of the large tears coursing down Dark's face. "Well, forget it. I didn't get any sympathy from you, so you sure as heck won't get it from me!"

Somehow, Sana broke free from Krad's grasp and charged toward Dark. Her golden wings, somewhat stiff from blood, moved her faster than time.

"Dark, if you value your life, move!" Krad shouted.

"Die!" Sana shouted.

The cries fell on deaf ears. Dark had lost himself in his tears.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'M SORRY, SAKI!"

Just then, there was a huge flash of light.


	20. Truth of the Darkness

"Alchemy?" Daisuke asked with surprise. "What's that?"

"It was a science, Niwa, in the 1800s," Satoshi explained. "In alchemy, you take something, break it down, and make it into something else. It was proved to have very little scientific backing and is now considered a pseudoscience. Chemistry is the successor of alchemy."

"How do you know about this, Hiwatari?" Daisuke asked.

Satoshi shrugged.

"Sasaya told you, didn't she?" Penelope asked in her barely audible voice.

Satoshi glared at the girl. He didn't trust her or anything she said.

"Would like to hear the story as it is told in my village of Door?" Penelope asked and suddenly started coughing.

"Are you okay?" Daisuke asked.

Penelope nodded. "Now, would you like to hear?"

Daisuke nodded.

"All right. The story starts with two families. Those would be the families you belong to. Now, as you probably already know, the Hikari family was trying to breathe life into the Kokuyoku. The Niwa family wanted to steal it. When they arrived, they disrupted the ceremony. Instead of the Kokuyoku having only one mind, body, and soul it split into two. Realizing what had happened, the families went to seek the help of two other families. These were the Shinchu and the Ryoyu. The Ryoyu, being gifted artists, created this abstract painting and the Shinchu was supposed to bring it to life. Not enough was given and the painting also bore two children. The four families had been cursed for dabbling in such a strange and dangerous art." Penelope held up a fist to cover her mouth and started coughing again. This time, it was much louder and her entire body trembled.

Daisuke patted her back. "Easy, now. Are you sure you're okay?"

Penelope nodded and continued with her story. "The four families got together to hold a conference about how to rid themselves of the curse. They decided to breathe life into another creation. The creation was called 'Solitaria Inoccencia'. It was a small statue featuring four children. This ceremony was done without any sort of interruption, but it produced something very horrible. It created Loathe."

Penelope coughed again. She covered her mouth and continued to cough. Daisuke noticed something red seeping through her fingers. His eyes widened with horror.

"Penelope-san, you're bleeding!" he exclaimed.

Penelope stopped coughing and looked at her hand. It was red with warm, slimy blood.

"I'm fine," she said hoarsely. "That was another of the things I paid."

"'Paid'? What do you mean?"

Penelope shook her head. "I'm not here to tell you about my past. AS I was saying, Loathe was created. The families rejoiced, thinking that this child was meant to help them, but it turned out to be just the opposite. Loathe was a spiteful child full of hate. It turned the four families against each other. Loath was sealed along with Sana, but the families couldn't seal up Dark and Krad. Anas let herself be sealed. Strangely enough, the seal wasn't strong enough to hold the angels and that's why they're here today."

After finishing her last sentence, Penelope started coughing violently. She grabbed her throat and coughed up lots of blood. They stained the front of her clothing.

"Penelope-san!" Daisuke cried.

Penelope was halfway bent and coughing on the stone floor. The redness stood out and continued to grow and grow. Satoshi stared at her and came to a sudden conclusion.

"You dabbled in those arts, didn't you?" he asked.

Breathing hard, Penelope looked up at him and nodded.

"Sasaya told me a lot about alchemy," he continued and squatted down in front of her. "She told me that to receive, one must sacrifice something of equal value. What exactly did you try to do to lose your arm and some of your insides?"

"Human . . . trans . . . muta . . . tion . . ."

Daisuke face paled. "Is that what I think it is? Penelope-san, did you try to create a human being?"

Penelope nodded and coughed some more. She slapped her fingers against her palm and a bright red light filled the room.

"Leave," Penelope said, "and be safe."

The surroundings faded. The last thing both boys saw was Penelope collapsing.

Chie dared to open her eyes. She looked up and saw Sasaya's arm trembling. Her fingers loosened their grip and the stiletto fell to the floor with a loud clatter that echoed in the cave. Sasaya herself dropped to her knees and let go of Chie.

"Ku-chan?" Chie asked, hesitating just a little. Her sister had truly frightened her.

Sasaya looked up and her eyes grew several times larger. She touched the scrapes on Chie's forehead. Chie flinched and Sasaya dropped her arm.

"Who did this to you?" she asked. "Who harmed you?"

Chie's eyes filled with tears and she immediately started bawling. She threw her arms around Sasaya and hugged her close.

"Ku-chan! Ku-chan, you're back to normal!" she cried.

Sasaya rubbed Chie's back and noticed several small cuts. What had happened? Suddenly, she remembered.

"Oh, my God," she said.

Chie felt Sasaya freeze up.

"What's wrong?" Chie asked.

Sasaya untangled herself from Chie's grasp and scuttled backwards. Her face had drained of its color and her eyes were very dark.

"I did this to you, didn't I?" she asked in a trembling voice. She raised her hands to her face and stared at them. "With these hands, I hit you, didn't I?"

Chie gulped. "No," she mumbled.

"Don't lie. I remember. So this is what's meant about the truth of the darkness. Not matter what reasoning you have or how pure your intentions are, they still get polluted by the darkness." Sasaya grabbed her head and ran her fingers through her curls. "I tried to kill you, but why?"

Chie stood up on trembling legs and slowly walked over to her. She knelt in front of her and took Sasaya's hands. "It doesn't matter," she said. "You're you and that's all I care about. You're my sister and I love you with all my heart."

A tear silently rolled down Sasaya's face. "We're not sisters."

Chie looked up. The fact that Sasaya was crying and the statement she had said startled her. "What are you saying? Of course we're sisters."

Sasaya's eyes were now half-blue and half-brown, a sign indicating that she was extremely sad. "No. We're not even related. I'm from the Shinchu clan, the family that Kiku-san always told horror stories about."

At first, Chie looked startled. Slowly, her face crumpled up and she started to cry. "No, no, no!" she shouted and shook her head. "I don't care if you're supposed to be from the Boogeyman's family. You're still my sister. Even if we're not blood-related, we're _heart_-related. Love comes from the heart, not blood!" She wrapped her arms around Sasaya and started to sing. It was a song of longing and wishing. A song about hope. About soothing away one's fears. About protecting a loved one. The song was "Motherland", the version that supposedly only the Shinchu family knew.

"I want to be the sky for you

So that I can take away your sorrows, too

Whenever I look up, I want to feel that I'm not alone

Even if I'm far away.

Let there be a place I can return to . . ."

Sasaya held Chie closely and wished the same things. She wanted to protect her little "sister". But could she do it? With that horrible curse that had been bestowed on the Shinchu family a long time ago, could she protect anyone?

_I actually wrote this chapter while listening to "Motherland". I love that song, but sometimes it sounds really sad. And I don't think I conveyed the sisters' feelings correctly. Agh, did I do anything right? _


	21. The Lovers

Cool wetness. That's what if felt like to Dark. Where was he? It was a strange, dark dimension. Lonely, too. He was sitting on the ground with his long legs drawn up to his chest. His arms were wrapped around his legs. There was no one in this dank dimension and it looked completely dark. It almost seemed like an enormous coffin.

Dark could hear sounds. It sounded like someone singing. He couldn't hear the words very well. After a few minutes, the words became clear.

"Kimi ga tabidatsu hi wa

itsumo to onaji 'jaane' to te wo futta

marude ashita mo mata

kono machi de au mitai ni

Ai wo shinjiru no wa

jibun ni mo makenai koto

yume ga kanau hi made

egao no mama hoshi wo mite inori sasage koko ni iru kara . . ."

It sounded like it was a young woman singing it. She didn't sound very old, but her voice carried many different emotions that couldn't possibly have been experienced in her lifetime. She had a plaintive voice that simply refused to give up hope. The singer drew in a sharp breath and sang even louder.

"Watashi wa kimi ni totte no sora de itai

kanashimi made mo tsutsumi konde

itsudemo miageru toki wa hitori janai to

tooku de omoeru you ni

kaeru basho de aru you ni . . ."

It sounded as if she were half-protesting and half-pleading. Like she wanted to believe in something that clearly didn't exist. But why? She sang again and again. As the song went on, it seemed that hope wanted to vanish but the singer wouldn't let that happen. Why would someone want to keep wishing and hoping and praying?

"Kono hiroi sekai wa tsunanagatteru

shiroi kumo wa nagare kaze ni natte

kimi no moto e . . ."

Dark gasped with shock. He had sung those words to Anas before she died. The singer sang even louder. Dark could feel that she wanted to get her point across. Suddenly, her voice swelled down in volume and she sang the next part with clear hope in her voice.

"Watashi no koe wa todokimasuka?"

The singer paused for a small moment, but continued with her song. She sounded very distressed, but didn't sound anywhere near to giving up.

Dark covered his ears. He couldn't stand her sad, hopeful voice. He didn't want to hear it. Whoever the singer was, she was very stupid. Who would keep hoping and hoping?

"Shut up!" he shouted. "Stop hoping. Stop wishing. Stop praying. It doesn't exist and it never will. Hope can't change anything!"

"Do you honestly believe that?" the singer's voice asked.

"Yes!" Dark shouted and squeezed his eyes shut. "Now shut up!"

"Dark, look up at me."

At first, Dark was blinded by a bright light. When his eyes adjusted, he could see features that he easily recognized. Green eyes. Golden-red curls.

"Saki!" he exclaimed.

The glowing around Anas completely vanished. At the moment, she towered over Dark because he was on the ground. She gazed down at him with a look of pity.

"How did you get here?" she asked and knelt in front of him so they could see eye to eye.

"I . . . I don't know," Dark replied.

Anas shook her head. "Never mind then. Dark, will you tell me exactly what you did? I got the gist of it from what Sana said, but I still don't know. Can you remember anything at all?"

Dark remembered. He had known all along, he just hadn't wanted to acknowledge it. A simple emotion had gotten so out of control and he had been the one to incite it.

"Dark?" Anas asked as he stood up.

Dark paced back and forth and threw his hands up in the air with despair. "Saki, back then, I got Sumiko to go out with me and Krad saw us and he got the wrong idea. Then you saw us and---"

"You did _what_!" Anas demanded. "While we were together and they were together, you'd thought it'd be funny to stir things up a little? I just thought you stole a kiss from Sana or something. How could you, you bastard?"

Dark refused to look at Anas. "I didn't think you would kill her. Really. I thought you'd be really upset and yell at me or something, but I didn't expect you to take out your rage on her."

"What'd you think I was going to do?" Anas put her hands on her hips. She was frowning and her eyes were glowing with anger. "Sit around and say, 'Let's have a talk about you not stealing guys from me'? Dark, you truly are stupid."

Dark turned around and glared at her. "Damn idiot, you're the one that's stupid. You and Sumiko both."

"You're the one that made her go out with you!"

"For your information, I didn't _make _her go. She came of her own free will."

"At least I didn't incite a cycle of bloodshed!"

"At least I didn't kill my best friend!"

For some reason, that made Anas shut up. Her eyes filled with tears and one of them dripped down her face. Dark immediately regretted his words.

"Saki, I'm sorry," he started and reached out to wipe away her tears.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Anas screamed and slapped his hand away.

Dark didn't know what to do. Words and actions weren't going to comfort her. What could he do?

"Do you regret saving me from Sumiko?" he asked.

"No," Anas mumbled.

"You brushed away my tears, didn't you?"

Anas nodded.

"Then let me brush away yours."

Anas looked up. Her eyes were red and swollen. The tears that had run down her face were still hot. Dark cupped her chin and slowly brushed away the hot tears.

"The past can't be undone," he said softly. "People will try to undo their mistakes, but mistakes can't be undone. All people can do is repent."

"I didn't want to kill her," Anas whispered. "Anger and jealousy clouded my mind. It all happened so quickly and immediately regretted it. Then I stabbed myself to try to make up for it, but we just kept coming back and repeating the same cycle. I thought this time it would be different. That girl, Chie, she's so different from me and her sister is the polar opposite of Sana, so I thought . . ." Anas closed her eyes. "I _wanted _things to be different. I _wanted _all four of us to live happily again. Sometimes, when Chie was taking a test, she would reminisce. I would see memories in which she's happy with all her friends. It reminded me so much of the way things used to be that I desperately hoped she would live and be happy. I hoped Sana would forgive me. But forgiveness comes much slower than hate." Anas opened her eyes and stared into Dark's. "Promise me something."

"What is it?"

Just then, a bell with a chrysanthemum attached to it fell beside them.

"Kikuko is calling you," Anas said.

"What?" Dark asked, confused.

The bell glowed and the chrysanthemum swelled in size. It now towered over them both. Anas pushed Dark towards it. Dark fell against it and the flower's numerous petals started closing around him.

"What the hell?"

The flower wouldn't let him go, no matter how much Dark struggled.

"Saki!" Dark shouted. "What did you want me to promise?"

Anas shook her head and smiled sadly. "It's too late for such a silly promise."

The flower closed up and disappeared. The bell rang once and vanished as well. Anas sighed.

"Promise me that you'll find happiness, Dark," she whispered.

Kikuko stared at the tarot cards. The book the Harada twins had brought her lay open in her lap. The vibrantly-colored picture of Anas faded.

"Many premonitions have come to pass," she said. "I hope most of them come back."

The sound of a bell tolling got her attention. A chrysanthemum suddenly sprang up from the middle of the room and bloomed. Out of it came Dark and Chie.

Kikuko grimaced. _Sasaya and Satoshi didn't come back. _

_Let's see now. In case you didn't know, Kiku means "chrysanthemum". That's why Kikuko is often depicted with them. There's a lot more to her than just being a fortune teller and that'll all become clear someday. _

_Oh, and another thing. Saki is the name Anas was given by the Ryoyu family and Sumiko is the name Sana was given by the Shinchu. So Saki is Anas and Sumiko is Sana. _


	22. The Moon

Kikuko stood up from her chair and walked over to Dark and Chie. She reached down, grabbed Dark by his shirt, and lifted him off the ground. Dark was surprised by the strength of the old woman.

"What did you do?" Kikuko asked, frowning. "What the hell happened to Chie?"

Dark blinked and struggled to come up with an explanation. She he just tell her everything that happened or should he lie? For some reason, he couldn't bring herself to tell her the truth. Dark opened his mouth as if to say something, but immediately closed it and stared at the ground. How could he explain all this? How could a simple emotion suddenly get out of control and cause so much pain and suffering?

Kikuko sighed wearily and let go of Dark. He fell back to the floor for some reason. It was as if all his strength had been drained. Kikuko licked her lips and raised her arm. She quickly smacked Dark several times before stopping.

"Did that hurt?" she asked.

Dark raised arms as if to shield himself and bowed his head. Anas had slapped him like that. "Don't," he whispered. "Please, don't."

Kikuko took Dark's hands and forced him to stand up. She gazed up at him and smiled sadly. He was older than her and at least a foot taller, but to anyone else, he might've been a teenager. A teenager is still a child.

"Oh, Dark," she said, "I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry for hitting you, but I'm not sorry for what happened to you. You should've thought things through."

Kikuko noticed that his lips were trembling and he was biting them in a desperate attempt to keep the tears inside.

"I don't know what to say," Kikuko said. "I can't say it'll be all right because it won't be. You've changed many people's lives. You've changed Chie's life." Her gaze fell on the floor where Chie lay. She looked completely peaceful, like she had just finished a huge project and could finally sleep and dream. A smile played on her lips and she let out a soft giggle. Whatever dream she was having must've been a happy one. Kikuko turned her gaze back toward Dark. "I can't say that I blame you entirely because there were many contributors to what happened today. However, I can say that you did plant the seed for this wretched weed that choked every flower in the garden."

"I'm sorry," was all Dark could say.

"I guess an apology is better than nothing. Now, turn back into Niwa."

Dark looked up with surprise. "Huh? But why?"

"You're not the only on suffering. Do it!"

Dark reverted back to Daisuke. Daisuke looked up at Kikuko with a pained expression on his face.

"Ekisha-san, is this what you meant by the Fortune of the Four Angels?" he asked softly. "And what of Penelope-san? And Chie-san and her sister? And Hiwatari?"

Seeing the look of sadness and pain on Daisuke's face hurt Kikuko. She bent down and picked up Chie.

"Chie's right here," she said. "I don't know where Sasaya and the others are. As for Penelope, I can tell you one thing. She's not from this world and she's not human and not an angel."

Daisuke's eyes grew wide. Not human? Penelope hadn't been human?

"What do you mean? If she's not a human being or angel then what could she possibly be?"

Kikuko shook her head. "I don't know. However, I did see her. Several others as well."

"She said we were all going to die." Daisuke's shoulders shook a bit and his lips quivered. Two tears rolled down his face and fell on the polished wooden floor. "Why would she say something like that? What happened to Penelope-san? And those others. Are they going to die as well?"

Kikuko tore her gaze away from Daisuke's face. She couldn't stand seeing a child cry. And staring at the crying Daisuke only made her want to curse Dark for what he had done in the past.

"I'm not sure. I hope they don't, because they're all children, but I truly don't know."

Daisuke's eyes grew big with horror and disbelief. "Children!" he cried.

"Yes. All between the ages of fourteen and nineteen. Some may actually be older than that, but that's how old they look."

Daisuke blinked several times and frowned with frustration when his tears wouldn't stop. They dripped down like useless water that couldn't possibly be of any use to anyone. He covered his face to try to stop the tears, but it was in vain. Daisuke started to sob and his slightly muffled gasping and hiccupping broke Kikuko's heart.

"Go home, Niwa-chan," she said simply. "I need to take care of Chie."

Daisuke looked up. His cheeks were wet with the hot tears that had fallen down and his eyes swollen and redder than before.

"Will Chie-san be all right?" he asked.

"Yes, now leave."

Daisuke wanted to stay, but he didn't want to argue. What could he have done anyway?

_"Dark? Dark, are you there?" _

Dark didn't respond. More tears fell down Daisuke's face.

_"Come on, Dark. Answer me! Please." _

Dark still didn't answer. Daisuke knew why. He could feel Dark's sadness tugging at his heart. It hurt so much. Daisuke grabbed the front of his shirt and felt the sadness squeeze his heart. How could it hurt so much? _Why_ did it hurt so much?

_"What happened? What happened to Saki and Krad and---?" _

_"She's dead." _

Daisuke gasped. "What?" he asked out loud.

_"Saki is dead. Sumiko killed her in that dimension." _

_"Does Chie-san know?" _

_"Not yet." _

Daisuke sensed that Dark didn't want to talk anymore, she he closed his mouth and kept quiet. He wandered around the dark, lonely streets like a zombie. How did everything happen? How could it have all turned so bad? And why did Penelope say they were going to die? Daisuke felt like he was in a sea of confusion and all those questions were sharks. The sharks were getting ready to attack. Would anyone save him from certain death?

"Daisuke?"

Daisuke looked up slowly.

"Riku-san?"

Riku walked over to Daisuke. "Chie's grandmother told us some things about what happened. Are you all right?"

Daisuke stared at the ground. "I . . . I . . ." He couldn't find the correct words to tell Riku how he felt. He stood there and tried to think of something, but couldn't.

Riku gently grabbed Daisuke's chin and made him look up. She gasped with shock. He looked like he'd been crying for hours! "Daisuke, what happened to you?" she asked and wiped away some of his tears with her hand. "What happened?"

Daisuke grabbed Riku's hand and squeezed it just to make sure that she was really there. Fear suddenly washed over him. Was Riku also going to die?

"Riku-san," he said and let go of her hand.

A tear welled up in Daisuke's eye and rolled down his face. Riku caught it before it fell to the ground. It shimmered like a caught jewel.

"If it's too hard, don't tell me," she said, "but I want to know what happened to you."

Daisuke opened his mouth and everything he knew came out. He just couldn't stop talking. Daisuke wanted at least one person to hear what had happened. He just couldn't keep it in.

When he finished talking, Riku had a look of bewilderment, disbelief, and sadness on her face. Not knowing what else to do, she threw her arms around Daisuke and pulled him in for a gentle hug.

"Oh, Daisuke," she whispered.

For a moment, Daisuke didn't move. He felt a little numb, but the warmth of Riku's hug brought several emotions back. Slowly, Daisuke laid his head on Riku's shoulder and let her shirt soak up the tears.


	23. Sasaya's Decision

The Thumbelina bells on the door jingled. Their music echoed in the dark, empty bakery. The sound woke up Kikuko. She got out of bed and walked down the stairs, grumbling something in annoyance. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, Kikuko saw a figure standing by the door.

"Kiku-san," the figure said softly.

Kikuko's eyes widened. "Saya-chan?" she whispered.

In the faint moonlight, Kikuko saw the girl nod. She moved closer to Sasaya, wrapped her arms around her, and pulled her in for a hug.

"Oh, my dear girl, where have you been?" she asked as she stroked Sasaya's curls. "I was worried about you!"

Sasaya pulled away from Kikuko's grasp. "Don't lie," she said quietly.

Kikuko looked a little taken aback. "What did you say?"

Sasaya looked up at Kikuko with no emotion whatsoever written on her face. There was some anger in her voice. "Don't lie to me. It's demeaning. You weren't really worried about me."

"What are you talking about?" Kikuko asked with sincere surprise. "How could I not be worried about my own granddaughter?"

Kikuko reached over to stroke Sasaya's hair, but she slapped her hand away.

"You're only doing this because you promised Hinageshi-san and Madoka-san. You promised to raise Chie and myself together so we could be friends. My mother and her mother were friends that were victims of that awful curse, weren't they? Just like Chie and myself."

Kikuko's eyes grew wide with this information. "How did---?"

"Satoshi filled in some of the blanks, but a part of me already knew I wasn't a Ryoyu." Sasaya lifted her arms and stared at her palms. The lights cast strange shadows on the myriad lines that told stories to those that could read it. "I look nothing like Chie. I don't have the gift of music nor can I paint. The only thing I can do easily is dance and, according to you, that's not what a Ryoyu does." Sasaya dropped her arms and glared at Kikuko. "A Ryoyu paints or sings her emotions, but a Shinchu dances them. I always wondered why you hated my dancing so much. Now I know. It reminded you of the family you hated the most. The Shinchu family."

Kikuko pulled out a nearby chair and sat down with a sigh. "It's obvious we really need to talk about these things. Have a seat across from me."

Sasaya shook her head. "No. I have no business with you."

Kikuko frowned a little. "Sasaya, we're family and families talk things out."

"We're not family. We're nowhere near that. A family is a group f people that love and care about you. It's not like that song that has double meanings."

"You mean 'Onnagokoro'?"

"No, that's not what it's called. It's called 'Motherland'. A motherland is the place you were born. It's like a family. You can do awful things and they will forgive you no matter what. But what happens when your motherland isn't so forgiving? It spits you out and you're alone. It's not like you can just say, 'Please let there be a place I can return to'. You can say, 'There's always a home for you', but you can't expect someone to give you a place to return to."

Kikuko rubbed her temples. "Sasaya, you're giving me a migraine. Where are you going with all this?"

"I don't belong here, so I'm leaving. This isn't my motherland."

Sasaya turned to leave, but Kikuko jumped out of her seat and grabbed her arm.

"Let go," Sasaya whispered.

"You're fourteen years old!" Kikuko shouted. "You're not going anywhere by yourself. So what if I only raised you because my daughter and her best friend begged me to? You're practically my granddaughter and this is your home no matter what! This _is_ your motherland! You belong here."

"You're going to wake up Chie."

"I don't give a damn if the dead wake up and threaten to drag me down to the depths of hell! I'll shout until you get the point!"

"Let go!" Sasaya shouted.

Sasaya raising her voice didin't faze Kikuko in the slightest. She started pulling the girl away from the door. Both started a strange game of tug-of-war. Sasaya held onto the door knob and Kikuko held onto to Sasaya's arm. Neither one was about to let go.

"You're not going anywhere! This is your home!"

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"

"No, you incorrigible brat. Now let go of the door!"

"If you don't let me go, I'll bring out Sana and make her kill you!"

Kikuko gasped. She dropped Sasaya's hand and took a few steps backward. Sasaya immediately regretted her words. She turned around to face Kikuko with a funny look on her face: half-startled, half-relieved. Kikuko was sitting in the chair with her long hair covering her face.

"I didn't mean that," Sasaya whispered.

"Yes, you did. Get out, you little bitch," Kikuko spat.

Something in Kikuko's voice made Sasaya open the door and run outside. She slammed it behind her and the Thumbelina bells jangled wildly. The music they produced wasn't light and airy, but very angry and a little sad. The music was that of a person reluctant to leave, but, at the same time, eager to get out.

Kikuko covered her face with her hands and sighed.

"Sasaya," she said, shaking her head.

Sasaya stood in front of the bakery, trembling. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her hands were balled into fists. Satoshi, who had decided to tag along, watched her from the nearby streetlight.

"Don't cry," she kept mumbling to herself. "Don't cry."

"Sasaya, are you okay?" Satoshi asked.

Sasaya nodded and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Are you really leaving this place?"

Sasaya nodded miserably. "I can't stay. They won't forgive me. Even if they could, they would never trust me again."

Sasaya started walking away, but Satoshi grabbed her hand.

"Where will you go?"

"I have a place that belongs to no one. I'll go there."

Satoshi remained silent for a moment. "Do you really want to do this? What about Ryoyu?"

"She'll be fine. She's too high up in the clouds to notice what's going on with us miserable mortals," Sasaya responded, her last sentence dripping with sarcasm.

"I'll go with you."

"Don't," Sasaya responded, the sarcasm completely gone. "If you tag along with me, you're going to die."

"We're all going to die one day. The question is how and when."

Sasaya laughed ruefully. "I can answer that. If you stick with me, you're going to die very soon and in the most brutal way possible." Much to her annoyance, a tear trickled down her face. She quickly brushed it away with her thumb before Satoshi could see it. Or so she thought.

Satoshi had seen the tear. He knew Sasaya was heartbroken, but he didin't know what to say. Satoshi wasn't used to dealing with sad people. He wasn't used to comforting them. All he did was squeeze her hand, trying to reassure her, but of what he wasn't so sure of. Sasaya looked at him and smiled.

"You know, there's this part in 'Motherland' that reminds me of this. I like it because it almost speaks to me. It tells me to let my tears fall freely and wish for a better tomorrow. Then I'm supposed to fall asleep without a care in the world." Two tears trickled down her face and she quickly wiped them away. "That song is so naïve. It almost reminds me of Chie's way of speaking."

Not knowing what else to do, Satoshi nodded. Sasaya didn't mind his staidness. She knew he didn't know what to do.

"Let's go," Sasaya said and both started walking in the dark, lonely night.

_I wonder how the original chapter for this one sounded like. It was probably a whole lot better. I wasn't sure of what to do with Satoshi that I almost didin't put him in here. Then I remembered that, besides Chie, Satoshi's the only friend Sasaya has. It'd be sad just to leave her on her own. Then I remembered that Satoshi's not exactly the compassionate type. So, all in all, this chapter pretty much sucked. _

_By the way, Shinchu means something like "innermost feelings". Sasaya doesn't like to cry in front of people. Actually, she doesn't like to cry at all. She would rather keep things locked up. I guess her name does suit her after all. _


	24. Next Day

_Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii---! _

Sleepily, Chie reached over to her alarm clock and accident knocked it off her nightstand. She sat up and yawned. She felt so sleepy, but wasn't quite sure why. Her sleep had been plagued by bizarre nightmares that she couldn't remember. All she remembered was fear and pain . . . and sadness.

"Note to self: stop eating meringue pie with hot sauce before bed," she mumbled to herself. "What time is it?"

Chie looked down at her fallen alarm and immediately jumped out of bed.

"8:00 A.M.!" she shrieked as she grabbed her wrinkled school uniform of the floor and threw it on. "Why didn't anyone wake me!"

Chie grabbed her hairbrush and ran down the stairs. Kikuko, who was already behind the counter, glared at her.

"No time for breakfast!" Chie said and grabbed a piece of the day-old bread sitting on a table.

She jammed her feet into her shoes and spirited out the door with the brush still in her hair. She ran across the street and heard a car screech to a sudden halt. Chie stopped momentarily and saw that the car had stopped to avoid running her over.

"Sorry!" Chie said, spitting out bits of bread.

The window of the car rolled down and Satoshi stuck his head outside.

"Ryoyu?" he asked with amazement.

Chie ran over to him. "Hiwa-san, hello! Are you also late for school?"

Satoshi shook his head. "I'm not going to school today. I have something important to take care of."

Satoshi smiled. "I wish I didn't have to go. By the way, do you have the time?"

"I think it's 8:15."

"8:15!" Chie screeched, her face turning a sickly pale color. "Oh, I've got to get to school! Bye, Hiwa-san!" She turned to run.

"Wait, Ryoyu!"

Chie turned back to face him. "Huh?"

"Would you like a ride to school?"

Chie shook her head and her brush hit her in the eye. "Ouch." She pulled the brush out of her hair and rubbed her eye. "No, that's okay. It looked like you were in a hurry and I'd just get in the way."

"It'd no problem."

"Well, if it's not too much trouble---"

"It's not," Satoshi said and opened the door.

Chie grinned a big, goofy grin. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed and slid in.

Satoshi stared at Chie. Her school uniform was noticeably wrinkled, she had on one white sock on the left foot and a neon green and yellow sock on the right, her hair resembled a bird's nest, and there were bread crumbs on her face and clothes. Satoshi stifled a laugh as Chie tried to run her brush through her tangled mass of hair.

Chie jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped in front of the school.

"Thank you once more, Hiwa-san!" Chie said and ran inside. "Bye-bye!"

Chie had such a high-pitched, girly voice. Sasaya's voice had always been polite and soft. When Satoshi first met both of them last year, he had found it very hard to believe that the two were even related. They didn't even have similar features.

Of course, Satoshi had realized that Sasaya wasn't a Ryoyu when she first transformed into Sana.

_Sasaya . . . _

Satoshi leaned his head back on the headrest. They were all caught up in a serious mess.

Chie ran up to her first class and opened the door.

"Koiko-sensei!" she gasped, breathing hard.

Koiko-sensei turned her attention to Chie.

"Ryoyu-imoto," she said in a calm controlled voice, "where is your project?"

Chie gasped. Her face turned a very bright red. "Uh, um . . . an iguana ate it," she said rather lamely.

Koiko-sensei's face turned red with fury. "An iguana ate it? AN IGUANA ATE IT!" she raged. "What happened to the cat that ate your disc in the last project?"

Chie played with her hair, a sign that she was visibly uncomfortable. "It ran away," she offered in a tiny voice.

The teacher sucked in her breath sharply through her teeth. "Go to your seat and bring it in three days," she said.

"Thank you so much!" Chie exclaimed with a smiled lighting up her face. She bowed deeply and fell over, smacking her forehead on the floor. The class laughed. Even Koiko-sensei couldn't help it.

"Owie," Chie mumbled as she walked over to her desk and sat down.

"By the way, Ryoyu-imoto, where's your sister?" Koiko-sensei asked after a few minutes.

"Huh? My sister?" Chie asked with surprise.

Koiko-sensei nodded. "Yes, Ryoyu-imoto, your sister," she said slowly as if addressing a four-year-old.

Chie turned around and scanned the room. Daisuke avoided her gaze by staring at his desk. Riku averted her eyes and stared out the window.

_How strange, _she thought. _Are they avoiding me? _

"Oh, now I remember!" Chie said and faced her teacher. "She said she was going to visit someone."

Koiko-sensei nodded. She could tell it was a lie. "All right. Now, class, open your books to page 453 and . . ."

Chie stared at the page too closely and the letters started to jumble up. Something felt different. Why had Daisuke and Riku looked away? Where had Sasaya really gone? And what exactly happened yesterday?

Chie sighed and rubbed her temple. The question that bothered her the most was, "Where had Anas gone?"


	25. Wrongful Hurt

The cluster of Thumbelina bells tinkled as Ami Koiko opened the door and stepped into the bakery. She saw Chie and stifled a giggle.

"Poor Chie-chan."

Chie had obviously fallen asleep at the counter and was using a honey cake as a pillow.

Ami quietly skulked over to Chie's arm and poked her arm. When Chie didn't stir, she tried another tactic.

"CHIE-CHAN!" she shouted in the girl's ear.

Chie's eyes popped open and she bolted straight up. "Welcome to the Ryoyu Family Bakery!" she said automatically. "Our pastries are always made with family love. May I take your order?"

Ami couldn't contain her laughter anymore. She fell backwards and let loose a loud laugh. Half of Chie's face and hair was covered with honey and bits of the cake.

"Oh, Ami-san, is something wrong?" Chie asked. "Your face is very red and you seem to have fallen on the floor."

Laughing, Ami reached up and grabbed the counter for support. She took one look at Chie and fell again. Chie stared at her, dumbfounded. After a few more minutes, Ami stood up.

"Okay," she said, breathing hard. "I'm done."

"Why were you laughing so hard?" Chie asked. "I thought you were having some sort of attack."

Ami smiled. "Well, half of your face was buried in a cake when I came in."

Chie's hands flew to her face and she immediately felt the stick goo. "Uh-oh," she mumbled.

Ami giggled. "Now you're not just in trouble with my mom, but with your grandmother as well. And maybe Winnie-the-Pooh is going to think you stole his honey!"

Chie and Ami laughed. Ami was indeed Koiko-sensei's daughter. Both had long, dark blue hair and sky blue eyes, but Ami didn't yell as often. She just liked to hit people with her book bag.

"Well, Ami-san, are you going to buy anything today?" Chie asked.

Ami tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and gazed at the assortment of baked goodies.

"I guess I'll take a slice of chocolate cake, please."

Chie blinked. "I thought Koiko-sensei said you couldn't eat chocolate."

"Oh, it's not for me. It's for Edo-kun."

Chie grabbed a spatula and stared at the cake trying to decide which of the three remaining slices was the biggest. "Come to think of it, Kira-san and Edo-san haven't come to the bakery in a really long time. And I haven't soon Iru-san since last month. What's going on?"

Ami sighed sadly. "He's sick."

Chie looked up. "Who?"

"Iru-kun. Kira-chan found him passed out one day. No one knows what's wrong with him."

"He's not---I mean, he isn't---He's going to be okay, right?"

Ami shook her head. "I don't know," she said in a trembling voice. "And Kira-chan is starting to suspect that Edo-kun has been harming himself."

Chie gasped and dropped the spatula. "Why would he do that?" she asked with surprise.

"Oh, Chie-chan, it's just how some people deal with pain," Ami replied softly.

"But doesn't it hurt more?"

"The physical pain? At least that can be treated. An emotional pain is hard to get rid of."

_Is that why they say Anko-chan stabbed herself? Because she couldn't deal with the pain that came with killing Sana-san? _

Hot tears stung Chie's eyes. She dabbed her eyes with the edge of her pinafore.

"No," she said in a small voice. "Iru-san will be okay. Just like Anko-chan and Ku-chan and everybody else."

"Did you say something, Chie-chan?" Ami asked.

Chie grinned. "Nope," she said and grabbed a cardboard box. Instead of selecting one slice, Chie grabbed a whole chocolate cake and slipped it into the box. "Here, Ami-san."

Ami blinked with surprise. "But I asked for a slice, not a---!"

Chie shook her head. "It's okay and it's free. I'll just work harder to pay off the cost of this cake."

"Chie-chan," Ami said and smiled. "Thank you." In a whisper, she added, "You always know how to make a person smile."

Chie only heard the first part and answered cheerfully, "You're welcome!"

"I'll tell my mom to give you an extension on that project," Ami said and waved goodbye. "Bye!"

"Bye-bye!"

Chie watched the door close and sighed.

"I guess I should clean up before Kiku-san sees the mess I've created."

"UTA!"

"Eep!" Chie squeaked and turned around stiffly. She smiled nervously. "Oh, Kiku-san, how are you?"

Kikuko glared at Chie. "I think you know."

"Uh, not very happy?"

"What was your first clue?"

Chie twirled a lock of her hair. "Uh, because you look like you want to murder me?"

Kikuko's angry expression melted away and she sighed. "Chie, I need to take to you seriously for a moment."

Chie swallowed the bile that had risen to her throat. Kikuko never called her Chie. This meant that she was really serious. But why would Kikuko want to talk to Chie seriously for?

_Let's see. Ami and her friends ( Edo, Kira, and Iru) will become somewhat important later on. Actually, Kira's going to appear in a few more chapters. She's going to have an interesting role (well, it's only interesting to me. Everyone else will not care)._


	26. Human Emotions

"About what?" Chie asked.

Kikuko sat down on a nearby chair and picked up the spatula Chie had dropped.

"I noticed you gave away our most expensive chocolate cake to Ami-chan," she said.

Chie bit her lip and twirled her hair several times. "Uh, well, she was in a hurry and told me about Iru-san and---"

"So it's true Iru-chan is in the hospital?"

Chie nodded sadly.

"And you thought the cake might cheer up Edo-chan?"

Another nod. Kikuko sighed and pointed at the small sink in the corner.

"Go wash your face. It's difficult to talk to you seriously when you look like you stuck half of your face in a jar of honey."

Chie laughed nervously and walked over to the sink.

"Now, Chie, do you like anyone?" Kikuko asked.

Chie splashed water on her face and grabbed a bar of soap. "Well, there's Ku-chan, Giku-chan, Dai-kun, Hiwa-san, and---"

"Not that kind of like," Kikuko interrupted.

Chie scrubbed her face with the soap bar. "Then what kind?"

"Like _like_. You know, love. True love."

Chie laughed. "What's this all about? Are you trying to arrange my love life or something?"

"I think I should've arranged your love life because you clearly can't. You pick the worst possible people to fall in love with."

"Huh?"

"I think you could've done better than the boy that houses Dark within him."

Chie dropped the bar of soap. It skidded around the sink for a while before stopping on top of the drain. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I know Anas is within you. Or at least she was. And quite a number of factors contributed to her awakening."

"Awakening?"

"All angels awaken within their tamers when the feelings of love cause a reaction with the tamer's DNA. However, Anas doesn't appear until Sana appears first. Chie, did Sasaya love anybody?"

"Not that I know of," Chie mumbled.

"It was Hiwatari-chan, wasn't it? I know it's true, so don't even try to lie." Kikuko sighed. "If you still don't understand, allow me to explain. Sasaya fell in love with Hiwatari-chan and you with Niwa-chan. Sana awakened in Sasaya and Anas in you."

Chie splashed more water on her face and grabbed a paper towel to dry it.

"Are you saying that it's Ku-chan's fault?"

"Yes. A girl's emotions are stronger than a boy's. That's why that bloody cycle keeps repeating itself. It's Sasaya's fault that it started over just when everything was going along so smoothly. She should've kept her feelings under a tight lid."

Chie whirled around to face Kikuko. "How can you say that about my sister!" she demanded.

Kikuko frowned. "She's not your sister, Chie. It's about time you realized that."

"I know she isn't my sister by blood, but she's still my sister in my heart!"

"Don't yell at your elders, Chie!" Kikuko snapped and stood up. "You should respect those that are wiser than you."

"Then please give me a reason to respect you."

"I've fed and clothed you and your so-called 'sister' for over eleven years!"

"And I'm much obliged Kiku-san, but you shouldn't say such things about Ku-chan."

"You can't deny the truth, Chie. A girl's emotions are so much powerful than a boy's and---"

"Stop that!" Chie shouted. "Stop saying things like that. For as long as I can remember, you've been stating the differences between boys and girls. Boys are human, just like girls. Don't talk about them like their emotions aren't worth anything!"

"I told you not to raise your voice at me!" Kikuko shouted.

"And what are you doing?" Chie snapped back, rubbing her eyes furiously. She was on the verge of tears. "We all feel anger, happiness, pain, and sadness. Those are all human emotions. Boys and girls are both human. There's no such thing as a girl's emotions being more powerful than a boy's! Why do you talk about boys like they're subhuman? It's not fair!"

Kikuko's face grew red with anger. "Chie, I'm warning you. Shut up this instant!"

It was too late for Chie to stop her little speech.

"Maybe the reason you're blaming Ku-chan is because you don't want to blame yourself!"

"How dare you!"

The spatula clattered loudly as it fell on the floor. A bit of Chie's blood sparkled on the sharp edge. Chie sank to her knees, the blood from the cut on her cheek running down her neck and collarbone and staining the white collar of her blouse. Wide-eyed, Chie looked up at Kikuko, shocked that her own grandmother would throw something so dangerous at her.

"Kiku . . . san?" Chie whispered as tears started rolling down her face.

Kikuko blinked several times. "I . . . I didn't mean to . . ."

"Was I right, then? Were you blaming Ku-chan because you didn't want to blame yourself?"

Kikuko turned and ran into the kitchen. She slammed the door and bolted it shut. Chie flinched. The cut burned when her salty tears fell on it. She stood up and washed her face until the water stopped running red.

"I have to get some honest answers," she said to herself. "I have to find Dai-kun. He'll tell me."

Chie ran out of the bakery. She meant to go to Daisuke's house, but couldn't remember where it was located. She spent a few hours wandering around and finally spotted Daisuke in the middle of a bridge.

"Dai-kun!" she called and ran towards him.

Daisuke turned around. "Chie-san!" he exclaimed.

Chie accidentally tripped while crossing the bridge. Daisuke knelt in front of her and helped her up.

"Dai-kun, please tell me everything," Chie said.

"What do you mean?" Daisuke asked.

"Something happened, but no one wants to tell me. Please, do you know what happened yesterday?"

Daisuke bit his lip and looked down at the ground.

"What's the matter? Dai-kun?" Chie asked.

"Saki . . . she . . . died."

Chie gasped. She knew something horrible had happened, but didn't know it had been this horrible.

"No. It can't be . . ."


	27. Reflection

Openmouthed and wide-eyed, Chie shook her head slowly. She felt like someone had just punched her in the chest.

"No," she whispered. "No, that can't be. Anko-chan, she can't be dead. She shares the same body as me so . . ." Chie looked up at Daisuke. "Dai-kun, it can't be. Why are you lying to me? Why is everybody lying to me?"

Daisuke continued to stare at the ground. "It was an alternate dimension," he said. "People get separated in those dimensions. That's how Sumiko was able to kill Saki."

Chie took a couple steps back. She couldn't believe this was true. She refused to believe it.

"How can this be?" she asked. "All this . . . it happened so suddenly . . . why?"

Daisuke didn't answer her.

"Dai-kun, tell me why this happened!" Chie begged.

When it became clear to her that Daisuke didn't want to talk about it, Chie pushed him aside and started running.

Daisuke looked up. "Chie-san, where are you going?" he called. "Chie-san!"

Tears blurred Chie's vision. The colorful blobs that were people slowly disappeared and where replaced by green blobs. She was running in a park. She didn't know where she was running to. She just wanted to get as far away as possible from Daisuke. If Kikuko had been right, then Chie was also to blame.

Chie's foot caught on something and she fell face-first in a fountain of slimy green water. She sat up and coughed out dirty water. Now she was soaked, smelled like a swamp, and had a lump forming on her forehead.

_I'm so pathetic, _she thought to herself as she got out of the fountain. _All I ever cared about was being happy and because everyone around me always smiled I just assumed they were happy as well. But maybe the only happy one was me. Maybe everybody else was miserable and I was too blinded by my happiness to notice. _

Chie started walking in an unknown direction. Tears rolled freely down her face. She didn't bother to brush them away. A sudden nostalgia washed over her and she realized she knew this area of the park. There was a swing set in the shade of some trees and a sandbox a few feet away from it. It was covered in shadows now because the sun was setting, but Chie remembered it clearly. When they were little, she and Sasaya used to play on that swing set everyday . . .

_"Ku-chan, Ku-chan, look!" Chie exclaimed and she kicked her legs up in the air. "I'm higher than you! Yay!" _

_Sasaya smiled. "Don't swing too high or---" _

_Chie accidentally let go of the swing and fell in the nearby sand box. Sasaya gasped. She stopped her swing, hopped off, and ran towards Chie. _

_"Did you hurt yourself?" she asked. _

_Chie looked up and stuck out her tongue. Her hair and clothing were covered with sand. "I went higher than you, Ku-chan!" she said with childish pride. _

_Sasaya put her hands on her hips. "Don't do that! You'll break something. Remember when we were playing hockey and you broke Kiku-san's special tea set?" _

_"But that was an accident! And it didn't break anything. See?" _

_Chie stood up and brushed off her clothes. She spun to one side and then to the other so Sasaya could see that she really hadn't broken a single thing. _

_Sasaya rapped her on the head. "You have a really thick head," she mumbled. _

_Chie laughed and grabbed Sasaya's hand. "Let's go home! Do you think Kiku-san has cookies for us?" _

_Sasaya smiled and started laughing. Chie stared at her with confusion. _

_"What's so funny?" _

_Still laughing, Sasaya pointed at Chie with her free hand. "You are! How do you make everything funny?" _

_Chie shrugged. "I don't know." _

_"You're a real dummy, Chie-chan, but you always make everybody happy." _

Chie sighed and walked over to the swing set. She sat down and started swinging. The rusty metal creaked and squeaked.

"Maybe the reason everybody was always laughing around me was because I was so childish and naïve," she said softly. "I always assumed they were happy, but maybe I only made them forget their troubles with my idiocy." Chie hung her head and shivered. She wished she could go home and get out of her wet clothes. Plus she smelled so she really wanted a bath, but didn't dare return home. Kikuko would probably throw a pot at her if she came home in this state.

"I never thought that was a bad thing. Everything seems better when you're laughing, but maybe that distracted people. Maybe that's why everybody's hurt now. Sasaya stopped calling me chan a long time ago, but I haven't stopped calling her that silly nickname. I haven't stopped calling any of my friends their nicknames. Maybe I should grow up, but . . ."

Chie looked up and saw a flower petal float down from the tree. The petal circled around lazily before landing right on Chie's nose.

"I don't want to be pessimistic like all the adults I know. Maybe that's why I haven't grown up. I'm still clumsy and naïve, but at least I'm optimistic. I don't act like the world's going to end." Chie blew on the petal and it circled away. "Is that what being grownup means? Does it mean spending every waking moment acting so apathetic?"

More tears rolled down Chie's face.

"I may not be apathetic, but I _am _pathetic. I could be doing something, but all I can do is yell and cry and run away. I'm such a baby. And Dai-kun would never want a girl like that." Chie stopped swinging and gripped the metal chain. "I wish I was like Giku-chan. If I were stronger and more athletic and prettier, would Dai-kun like me better than Giku-chan?" Chie shook her head, her wet hair slapping her face. "No. He's drawn to Giku-chan because Giku-chan has qualities I can never have. Everyone's unique and Dai-kun's drawn to Giku-chan's uniqueness. It doesn't matter how long I pine for him. He'll never see me as more than a friend." Chie let go of the swing's chains and drew her hands to her chest. She gripped the wet material closest to her heart. "If I know it's true and I can accept it, then . . . then why does it hurt so much!"

Chie let out a loud sob. Luckily, the park was deserted, so no one heard her heart-wrenching cries.

"Why?" she sobbed. "Giku-chan has Dai-kun and I have nobody. Why? Why do I even care?"

She dropped to her knees and the swing hit her on the back. She sobbed and sobbed until she heard someone's voice.

"It's not a good idea for a girl to be crying alone in the park at this time of the night."

Chie looked up and immediately stood up. "Dark-san," she said rather dumbly. "You're Dark-san."

Dark walked over to Chie and gently grabbed her chin. Chie kept her eyes on the floor.

"How long have you been crying?" he asked softly.

Chie squeezed her eyes shut and more tears fell out of them. Dark brushed them away.

"There, there," he said. "Don't cry. What's the matter?"

"Why not? That's all I'm good for anyway," Chie said with some ruefulness in her voice. She took a couple steps away from Dark and buried her face in her hands. "Dark-san, everybody has gotten hurt. I should've known there was something going on, but I didn't. All I can do is cry when I find out the horrible truth. I'm no better than Sana-san."

Dark frowned. "Don't say that. You're not like her."

"But it's true! Sana-san only lives for revenge against Anko-chan because Anko-chan killed her. And Anko-chan killed her out of jealousy. I'm afraid . . . I'm afraid that . . . that I'll turn out like them! Except it'll be Giku-chan that's the victim."

"Riku? Why?" Dark asked with amazement.

"Because I'm jealous of her. She has Dai-kun."

"What does Daisuke have to do with anything?"

Chie looked up at Dark with severe sadness painted all over her tear-stained face. "I love Dai-kun!"

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Chie gasped and her hands flew up to her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that. Why did she say that?

"You love Daisuke?" Dark asked dumbly. "Why . . . why didn't you say anything before? Why didn't you say that to Daisuke?"

Chie stared at the ground miserably. Tears pricked her eyes again and Dark became nothing more than a black and purple blur surrounded by green and brown blobs. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it didn't work. For a moment, she stood there, gaping and trying to speak.

"He loves Giku-chan," she finally whispered. "And Giku-chan loves him back. How could I hurt two of my bestest friends in the entire world? It wouldn't be right to force my feelings on him because his heart has already been taken by Giku-chan. It belongs to her and I can't steal it away. It's just not in me."

Dark approached her and stroked her wet hair. "You're so selfless."

Chie hiccupped. "You mean selfish."

"No, it's selfless. Of course you're jealous. It's okay to be jealous when you can't have something you want. At least you've accepted the fact that you can't have Daisuke. That's actually very mature of you."

Chie looked up at Dark with quivering lips. "It is?"

Dark nodded. "And there's someone else here who thinks that, too."

Kikuko came out from behind a tree. "Don't run away like that anymore. You scared the hell out of me."

Chie blinked. "Kiku-san." After saying her name, Chie started sobbing loudly and threw herself at Kikuko. "Kiku-san! Kiku-san!"

Kikuko smiled and rubbed the girl's back. "You're wet and smelly. Did you fall in the fountain?"

Chie pulled away from Kikuko. "I did. I'm sorry. I got my clothes all wet."

"Don't worry about it. As long as you're okay."

Dark started walking away.

_"Dark, shouldn't we---?" _Daisuke started.

_"She'll be fine. I can tell that she's not going to stay sad. So, are you embarrassed about what she said?"  
_Daisuke didn't respond for awhile. _"I don't know what to do. I never realized Chie-san felt that way about me." _

_"Just act normal." _

_"Are you sure?" _

Dark flew up to the sky and stared back down at Chie and her grandmother.

"I'm sure," he said with a smile. "And I'm positive things will end happily."

_Poor Chie. What she said is true. She's still very childlike (which is why I made her say bestest. I know it's not even a word, but it's such a common word when it comes to little kids my little sister says it all the time that I made it part of her vocabulary). Don't worry, though. Chie always bounces back. It's not good for her to stay sad because . . . well, she's actually the happiest one in this entire fanfic. I don't want her to stay sad. It wouldn't be right. _


	28. Fury's Sadness

Students heard the sound of loud, thumping footsteps and immediately moved out of the way. No one wanted to be near Koiko-sensei since she looked like she was ready to destroy anyone that got in her way.

"When I find that girl I'm going to give her a piece of my mind," the teacher grumbled. "What can of stupid excuse will she give me this time?" Koiko-sensei altered her voice to mimic Chie's. "'Oh, my computer crashed.' 'Kiku-san thought it was cursed.' 'A kitty scratched up my disc'. 'I accidentally ate it. No, I don't think it will cause lead poisoning'. 'The store closed before I got inside'. 'I tripped and it got squished.'" The teacher sighed and shouted out in her regular voice, "What's your excuse going to be this time, Ryoyu-imoto!"

Several students fled from the hallway. Koiko-sensei stopped in front of the art room and slid the door open. She took a few steps inside and gazed around the room. Finally, she spotted Chie in a corner. She had an easel in front of her and appeared to be deep in thought. Her right hand held a small brush. She was obviously painting something.

Koiko-sensei walked over to her and was about to start raving with fury, but stopped when she saw what Chie was painting.

At first, it looked entirely red. All different shades of red ranging from burgundy to ruby. They intermingled together so that the entire canvas looked like it had been splashed with blood. Woven in between the different shades were swirls of blue. It was a sad, grayish blue color. The sort of grayish blue you sometimes see before clouds take over the sky and cause rain to fall. It was clearly an abstract painting that represented some sort of inner turmoil.

The painting made Koiko-sensei forget about her anger. Yes, the painting was the color of rage, but those blue lines were like rivers of tears that somehow coexisted with red's fury. Red, the color of anger, and blue, the color of calm and sadness. It was a strange combination.

"Ryoyu-imoto, what is this?" Koiko-sensei asked softly so she wouldn't startle Chie.

"Fury's sadness," Chie responded, taking up another brush and dabbing in some more gray to the bluish swirls.

"Is that what you call it?"

"I haven't decided."

"What's it supposed to represent?"

Chie put down her paintbrush and stared at it. "The redness is anger and hatred. It also represents the blood that has been spilled due to these emotions. The blue ribbons are tears."

"But they're barely noticeable!" Koiko-sensei exclaimed. Had she been standing even three feet away, she wouldn't have seen them.

"That's because they're somewhat invisible tears. You can cry all you want, but sometimes no one's there to brush them away. No one can tell you it's okay. Sometimes, you can't even cry tangible tears. Your tears are hidden away and only those that are really close to you can see them. Only they can brush them away."

Koiko-sensei didn't really know what to say. Chie had always been nothing more than an empty-headed, silly, clumsy girl that always had some outlandish excuse for not turning in her homework on time. To her such deep words coming out of her mouth was surprising.

"Ryoyu-imoto, why would you paint something like this?" she asked.

"Kiku-san says that girls should guard their emotions, but that's kind of impossible." Chie smiled sadly. "Some girls in our family used to take out their frustrations by hurting themselves or others. I don't want to hurt anyone and I don't want to be hurt. So all I can do is paint."

Koiko-sensei reached over and gently squeezed Chie's shoulder. "You've earned an 'A'."

Chie looked up with surprise. "Huh?"

"The assignment was to put your emotions in a tangible form and you've certainly done that. Well done!" Koiko-sensei smiled. "I'm glad you didn't choose the path of hurt."

Confused crossed Chie's eyes. The innocent eyes that still held lots of hope and didn't want to believe in pain. "It just seems stupid to hurt people," she said.

"I know it does, but it's the easiest way for some people to deal with pain."

_'Easiest way to deal with pain'? Is that why Anko-chan stabbed herself? Is that why Kira-san thinks that Edo-san has been harming himself?_

"Ryoyu-imoto, I hope to see you in class tomorrow," Koiko-sensei said. She wagged her finger sternly in front of Chie's face. "And don't ditch my class anymore, young lady, or I'll have a talk with your grandmother."

The thought of Koiko-sensei talking to Kikuko immediately sobered Chie. She snapped out of her sad mood and nodded quickly. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Good." Koiko-sensei turned around and headed toward the door. Before leaving, she stopped momentarily to give Chie one final message. "Ryoyu-imoto, you may be dumb and childish, but you have something that many people don't have."

Chie knitted her brow with confusion. "Huh?"

Koiko-sensei turned around and smiled at her student. "You have hope," she said. After that, she turned around and left.

Chie stared at the door. "Hope? I have hope?" Slowly, a smile lit up her face. She stood up and clenched her fist. "Yes, I do! And I'll get my sister and my friend back!"

Filled with determination, Chie ran out of the art room. She managed to somehow get her foot caught on the leg of an easel and immediately fell. Luckily, the easel didn't have anything on it besides a blank canvas.

"Ouch," Chie mumbled.

"Chie-san, would you like some help?"

Two different hands reached down to help her up. Chie looked up and smiled.

"Dai-kun, Hiwa-san!"

"What were you doing in there?" Daisuke asked once they'd pulled her up.

"Resolving some conflicts," Chie said. "And I've figured out what to do."

"What to do about what?" Satoshi asked.

Chie raised her fist towards the heavens and said, "I'm going to get them back!"

The boys stared at her with confusion. She was going to try to get them back?

"And nothing's going to stop me! I don't care what happens, I will get them back. So, see ya!"

Chie broke into a run and accidentally bumped into Riku, who had been walking down the hall.

"Sorry, Giku-chan," Chie said as she hastily apologized, "but I've got work to do!"

With that, Chie ran off. Riku stared at her receding shape.

"What's up with her?" she asked.

Daisuke smiled a little. "She's going to try to bring them back."

Riku's eyes widened. "She is! But I thought---"

"Her stupidity certainly is boundless," Satoshi said and pushed his glasses up. However, even he had to smile at Chie's energy. A dose of naïveté was good every now and then.

_This chapter was a lot better the first time I wrote it. Now it just sounds like blah. Why did you leave me, Yasuko-chan! Why, why, why! _


	29. Strangeness

Chie pinched her nose to hold in a sneeze. It was about one thirty in the morning and, instead of sleeping or studying for the test she was supposed to have in eight hours, she was in the attic.

"What happened to the skylight?" Chie asked out loud after the feeling to sneeze had subsided.

There was a gaping hole where the skylight had been. She could clearly see the large, full moon surrounded by the starry sky. The gaping hole let in lots of moonlight, so the girl didn't need to turn on the light. Chie held back another sneeze and walked around the attic. She stopped in front of a wooden bookshelf.

"Let's see . . . coking, cooking, cooking, needlework, flower arranging, gardening, Tarot for IdiotsBaking for Idiots . . ." Chie frowned and put her hands on her hips. "That's strange. There should be some books about weird stuff around here. I remember there were tons of books when I was little because Kiku-san would slap my hand whenever I touched them."

Chie stood on her tiptoes to look at the highest shelf, but there was nothing there.

"How come there's nothing here?" she murmured. "This bookshelf used to be full."

She searched around the attic looking for those forbidden books she knew existed. After opening trunks, boxes, and drawers for thirty minutes straight, Chie gave up. She sat down on a large, overstuffed chair and blew a stray strand of hair off her face.

"I was hoping those books would give me some help. Kiku-san didn't bother to tell me anything. Guess she doesn't want me to know." Her gaze fell on the locket Sasaya had found and given her. It was still hanging around her neck. She unhooked the chain and stared at the incredibly detailed piece of jewelry.

"A four-leaf clover. They're supposed to be lucky, but I haven't been having much luck lately." After turning it this way and that, Chie found a tiny device on one of the leaves. She twisted it and the locket sprang open. "What the?"

There were two words on the top leaves on the right side of the locket.

"Homunculi," Chie read slowly. "Seraphim."

On the leaves on the left were mini portraits. A gray-eyed boy and a brown-eyed girl were standing face-to-face. Both looked a bit terrified of something. The boy had brownish blond hair and the girl (who Chie noticed had exceptionally large eyes) had wavy brown hair.

"She looks like a fairy," Chie murmured and gazed at the other portraits.

One had a tall boy and girl standing back-to-back. The girl had green cat's eyes and long, pale blue hair. There was a tiny star on her forehead. The boy had long, ivory-colored hair and cold, golden eyes. There were purple markings on his cheek and Chie could barely see what looked to be a crescent moon on his forehead. The next portrait contained another boy and girl standing side-by-side. The boy had golden blond hair and golden eyes to match. The girl had black hair and emerald-colored eyes. Both looked very angry for some reason. The fourth leaf was blank.

"Who are these people?" Chie wondered out loud. She looked at the angry boy and girl closely. "Why do they look like Edo-san and Kira-san?"

On the other leaves on the right, below the ones that had writing on them, she noticed strange symbols. Below the word "Homunculi" was the symbol of a snake that seemed to be eating its own tail. Below the word "Seraphim" was a snake wrapped around a cross with a crown on top of the cross. Below the tail-devouring snake was the word "Ouroboros". Below the other symbol was written "Caduceus".

Filled with curiosity, Chie touched the symbols. Chie gasped. Both started glowing with such a bright light that she accidentally dropped the locket.

_What was that?_

Breathing hard, Chie bent down and picked up the locket. What was going on? Why did those symbols glow all of a sudden? Chie examined the locket very closely to look for some battery or something, but found nothing. There appeared to be no apparent cause for the glowing.

Chie yawned and put her hand over her heart. It was pounding very rapidly. She was afraid that Kikuko might have seen the glowing, but she was also scared of the glowing itself. What did it mean?

At school, Chie trudged over to her seat and dropped her book bag on the desk. She sat down and let her head fall on the bag.

"Sleep," she mumbled to herself. "Precious sleep."

Suddenly, there was a loud _THUMP!_ Chie's eyes flew open and she instantly grabbed her book bag and held it in front of herself as a shield.

"I wasn't sleeping, Koiko-sensei, I swear!" she cried with her eyes shut. "Please don't throw a marker at me!"

"Chie-chan?"

Chie opened her eyes and slowly lowered her book bag. Riku was staring at her with a look that plainly asked, "Exactly _how_ much coffee did you drink?"

"Ah, Giku-chan, good morning," Chie said and smiled sheepishly.

"Are you okay? You have dark circles under your eyes and you look like you haven't slept in a week."

Chie sighed. "Sleep. I hear it's good for you. Maybe I should try it again."

Chie hadn't been able to sleep at all. Every time she closed her eyes, the glowing would come back and she would wake up in a cold sweat. Why did it frighten her so much? Of course, Anas's death and Sasaya's sudden disappearance had kept her awake. So much anxiety and worriment made sleeping seem like a waste of time.

"Are you worried about your sister?" Riku asked and took a seat in front of her.

Chie nodded and rested her head on her hand.

"Do you think it has anything to do with the Portal?"

Chie blinked. "Huh?"

Riku grabbed the book that had startled Chie earlier and showed it to her.

"Alternate Dimensions?" Chie looked up at Riku with confusion on her face. "I didn't know you were into this stuff."

Riku shook her head. "It's not me; it's Risa who likes this crazy junk. I just snatched this out of her room and brought it here. She bought all these books from your grandmother a while back."

Chie groaned and smacked her head against the book. No wonder she hadn't been able to find any books in the attic. Kikuko had sold them all!

"Anyway, Daisuke told me about some things that happened---"

Chie gasped and her eyes opened wide with horror. Had Daisuke told her _everything_?

"It's not like I can do a lot to help you because I didn't even believe Daisuke at first," Riku continued, "but you're my friend and I want to help you in anyway that I can."

"Giku-chan," Chie whispered. Her trembling lips managed to form a smile. "Thank you."

Riku smiled back it her. "No problem! By the way, did you study for the test?"

"Test?" Vaguely, Chie remembered the teacher saying that there was going to be a test today and that the test would count of forty percent of their grade. "Oh, no!"

"Forgot to study?" Riku asked.

Chie nodded miserably and let her head crash on the desk. She banged it several times before Riku stopped her by saying, "Don't kill off any more brain cells!"

"Do you think you did well on the test?" Riku asked during lunch.

Chie bit her sandwich miserably. It tasted like sawdust and dry ham. "Not especially. I think I flunked badly."

"Well, it was a hard test."

Chie sighed. "May I see that book?"

"Sure." Riku handed Chie the book and Chie opened it.

The first few pages were filled with text too small to be seen by the naked eye. After ten pages, Chie as ready to give up, but then she saw something that made her stop. It was the drawing of a sunflower with golden leaves and an emerald green stem.

"It's a sunflower."

Riku leaned over and stared at the drawing. "There's a poem."

"Sunflowers are weak

They pass through several trials

Sunflowers crumble"

Chie lifted an eyebrow. "Um, I don't get it."

"Me neither. Hey, here's another one."

Riku read the next one.

"Living things need life

Tears and pain are part of life

Sunflowers dry out"

Chie twirled a lock of her hair and sighed.

"This isn't really helping, is it?" Riku asked.

"No, I'm afraid not."

The girls spent the rest of their lunch hour in silence.

When school let out, the girls decided to walk home together.

"I guess this wasn't really useful," Riku said, staring at the book. "all we got out of this were some dumb poems and a description about the Portal that didn't really help."

Chie smiled. "Well, at least you tried to help. That's good, but I guess you can't expect books to carry that sort of information."

Riku gazed at the book thoughtfully. "Still, I think it's weird that this book had two poems. I thought it was supposed to be about different dimensions, not sunflowers."

"Different dimensions?" a voice behind them asked.

The girls turned. Behind them stood a high school girl wearing a purple skirt and purple middy blouse with a pink ribbon at the collar. She had bright green eyes and long black hair that shown with a greenish sheen.

"Ah, Kira-san, hello!" Chie said with a smile.

Kira smiled at her. "Hello, Chie-chan." She nodded in Riku's direction and asked, "Who's this?"

"I'm Harada Riku."

"Harada Riku." Kira tapped a finger against her lips. "Would you mind if I called you Riku-chan?"

Riku shook her head. "No, I wouldn't mind."

"Good. Now, what on Earth were you two talking about?"

"We need to get to the Portal!" Chie said suddenly.

Kira's eyes widened with surprise. For a brief moment, horror flashed through them. "I'm sorry, you need to what?"

"Ah, it's a really long story, but Ku-chan went missing and---"

"Say no more," Kira said. "If you would like to learn more about this Portal thing, I have plenty of books on the subject."

Chie's face brightened. "Really? And you'll let us use them?"

Kira nodded. "Of course. Meet me in the park tomorrow."

"Okay."

"I have to go now. Good bye!"

"Bye-bye, Kira-san!"

Kira ran off and Chie's watch beeped. She looked at it and gasped.

"Oh, no, I'm gonna be late!" she cried.

"Late for what?" Riku asked with confusion.

"Kiku-san told me she wanted me home by five because we have to start baking the fruit tarts today. Oh, it's already 4:56!"

"You better hurry then."

"Oh, yes! Bye-bye, Riku-chan!" Chie called as she ran backwards and waved goodbye. "Please meet me in the park tomorrow!"

"Chie-chan, watch out for that pole!"

Too late. Chie turned around, smacked into the pole, and fell down. Riku laughed and ran over to help her up.


	30. Daughter of Pseudoscience

The next day was sunny and balmy. It wasn't too hot and the breeze that was blowing was nice and cool. Riku and Chie were walking down a street filled with people laughing and smiling. Everyone seemed to be in a happy mood.

"I still think all this is a little hard to believe," Riku said, "but I'll help you."

Chie clasped her hands together and smiled. "Thank you, Giku-chan! I really appreciate your help."

Riku smiled. "So where are we going?"

"Kira-san told us to meet her in the park, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. By the way, how do you know her?"

"Oh, Kira-san, Edo-san, Iru-san, and Ami-san would always show up at least once a week to buy bread. They always celebrate important events, like their birthdays, at the bakery." Chie laughed. "For some reason, Kira-san would always call her self the daughter of pseudoscience. I guess it's because she knows a lot of stuff about that."

_Pseudoscience? _Riku thought.

Chie stopped walking and pointed to someone sitting beneath a large oak tree. "There's Kira-san." Chie started running toward her. "Kira-san, hello!"

Kira looked up and gasped. "Chie-chan, watch out for that root!"

Too late. Chie's foot caught the root and she immediately fell flat on her face.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked and helped her up.

Chie nodded. "Yeah. At least I didn't break anything."

Kira giggled a little. "I see you haven't broken that charming little habit of yours. Now, shall we get started?"

Both girls looked up with confusion written on their faces. Kira laughed and pointed at the stack of at least fifty books behind her. All the books had a considerable amount of pages and looked old. They even _smelled _old; like dust and mildew.

"Um, did you carry all of these with you?" Riku asked and picked up one of the books. "This one's kinda heavy. I'd hate to think what all of them weigh together."

"How did you carry all of them here?" Chie asked.

"I didn't. Edo helped me."

Chie's face lit up. "Does that mean Iru-san is feeling better?" she asked eagerly.

For a moment, Kira looked like she wanted to cry. In the next second, however, a smile had already replaced her trembling lips.

"He's doing better," she said. Hastily, she added. "Thank you for asking."

"Maybe I'll go take him a flower later on. A poppy flower would be nice. You know, to remind him of my family's bakery."

Kira reached out her hand as if to tousle Chie's messy hair, but instead let her arm fall down to her side. "I'm sure Iru-kun would like that. Now, shall we start?"

"Yes!"

The girls sat down and opened the books. They were looking for something, anything, that might clear things up for them. For some reason, Riku couldn't really concentrate on her reading. It wasn't Chie's loud sneezing that kept her sidetracked. It was Kira. There was something about her that seemed a little strange. She was a friendly girl and she and Chie obviously got along very well, but why had she avoided contact with her? There seemed to be a wall between Kira and the other two girls. It almost seemed like she was trying to keep herself detached. Why?

"Ah, I think I've found something!" Kira exclaimed suddenly. She laid the book flat on the grass so the other girls could see.

"It says something about a portal," Riku said.

"Ah, this is it!" Chie exclaimed. "This'll really help."

"I'll go get something for us to drink," Kira said and stood up.

"Um, I'll go, too," Riku said for some reason.

Chie was a little oblivious to this exchange and simply said, "Okay."

Kira and Riku walked over to the vending machines.

"It's very difficult to observe people if they know they're being watched, isn't it, Riku-chan?" Kira asked as she pushed coins into the coin slot.

Riku turned red and realized the Kira knew she had been staring at her. "I-I'm sorry," she mumbled.

Kira selected three different types of drinks. "Do you think I'm strange?"

Riku, not knowing exactly what to answer, shook her head.

Kira smiled. "Don't lie to me. You think it's strange for someone to have so many books on things that have supposedly been proven false." She grabbed the three drinks and handed one to Riku.

"It's not that," Riku said and took the orange soda.

"My parents strongly believed in things that couldn't be explained," Kira said as they started walking back towards the tree. "They had a grand collection of such books, but the ones that I've brought with me are all that remains."

"What happened to the rest of the books?"

Kira stopped momentarily. "They were burned."

Riku also stopped. "Burned?" she asked with confusion.

Kira bowed her head and her hair covered her face. "Our house caught on fire one day. The only books that survived were the ones I had lent Edo. Everything else was converted to ash along with my parents."

Riku's eyes widened. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Kira looked up with a smile. "It's all right. Let's let bygones be bygones."

The girls started walking again.

"So how do you know Chie-chan?" Kira asked.

"Oh, we met a while back in school."

"She's an extremely genki girl, isn't she? And her sister is so solemn and quiet. It's almost like they aren't even related."

Riku sighed and bit her lip. _They actually aren't_, she thought to herself.

Chie was still reading the book when they came back.

"Chie-chan, here," Kira said and handed her a grape soda.

Chie looked up and took the soda. "Thank you, Kira-san."

Both girls sat down.

"So what did you find out?" Riku asked.

"Not much," Chie said sadly. "I don't understand these words."

"What words?"

Chie pointed to a mess of text. "These ones. Aren't they confusing?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "_Those_ are words?"

"May I see it?" Kira asked.

Kira gazed at the words for a moment and smiled. "I know what they are," she said and stood up. "Get up, you two, and follow me."

Both girls stood up.

"Where are we going?" Riku asked.

Kira smiled mysteriously. "The place we need to be in to perform the ceremony."

_This chapter I really couldn't remember how it went, so I made some stuff up. By the way, genki means something like "energetic and healthy". I guess that describes Chie pretty well. She actually is genki except when she's sad. Kira's kinds strange, isn't she? She also has some ulterior motives and blah. I wonder what they are . . . _


	31. Means of Escape

Satoshi heard music coming from the dance room in the school. Who could it be? The dance room had been closed for repairs.

He walked up to the door and punched in the code to open the door. It slid open quietly. Satoshi walked in and saw Sasaya in the middle of the room wearing a long, loose sweater and leggings. She was dancing to the music.

The soft guitar music was accompanied by a woman's breathy voice. Satoshi didn't understand the words because they were in a different language. Sasaya extended her arms stiffly with her fingers spread. As the woman's voice repeated several words, Sasaya spun in a slow circle. She held out her arms as if straining to reach something that no longer existed. The woman's voice lowered and Sasaya reached both arms up to the heavens. For a moment, she stood perfectly still. The music seemed to fade.

Suddenly, it roared back to life. Sasaya spun around crazily, flailing her arms and legs. The woman started a crazy chorus of "la-la la la la la-la". Satoshi couldn't help but stare at her. She whirled around extremely fast, occasionally jumping from one side of the room to the other and shaking her arms to the beat of the music with her hands clenched. Before another round of the la-la la la la la-la, Sasaya moved to the right on her tip-toes. First, right leg in front of the left, then left in front of the right, and so on. The strange chorus started up again and so did the frenzied dance. Sasaya spun to the right and then to the left. She brought her hands together into a clapping motion and, as the singer cried out, "I'm gonna die!", fell to her knees. The song stopped abruptly. The dance was done.

Satoshi clapped his hands and smiled a little. "That was magical," he said.

Sasaya looked up at him, startled. She was breathing hard and her face was red and sweaty.

"What . . . did you . . . say?" she asked.

"That was a magical dance. It looked like you were in a world of your own."

"It's an . . . escape." Sasaya grabbed a bottle of water of the floor and took a sip. She stopped talking for a few minutes to catch her breath. "Magical, huh? That's probably the nicest compliment I've ever gotten about my dancing." She put the cap back on the bottle and set it down. "Satoshi, what are you doing in here?"

"Is this your 'motherland'?" he asked, ignoring the question.

Sasaya stood up, shook her head, and ran her hand through her sweaty curls. "Of course not. My motherland would be Akrasia Temple."

Satoshi frowned a little. "Why don't you just go back to the bakery?"

"Why are you still on that subject?" she asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Don't you think your sister's worried about you?"

"I doubt she cares."

"Why wouldn't she? You know she cares for you very deeply."

Sasaya bit her lip. "I don't deserve love from someone I nearly killed."

Satoshi knew exactly what she was talking about because she had told him everything.

"That wasn't your fault.

"It was. I let Sana overpower me. She wanted to kill Chie so badly and I did, too."

Satoshi's eyes widened a bit. "Why?"

Sasaya gazed up at the pink ceiling of the dance room. "I guess it's because I was envious of her. Chie's so sweet and kind and full of energy. She has so many talents and her clumsiness and high voice make her really cute. And worst of all, she can forgive and forget and move on. Chie bounces back so quickly that it's almost scary." Sasaya sat down and took another sip from her water bottle. "I've been hearing the stories of Anas and Sana ever since I was little. I always thought they were stupid and I didn't think such a thing would ever happen to Chie and me. Of course, I have already proven that I'm the stupid one."

This was one of those moments that made Satoshi feel uncomfortable. He just couldn't find the correct words to express his feelings. He wanted to cheer Sasaya up, but making people happy wasn't exactly his strong point.

"That's why I dance," Sasaya continued. "It was partly to make Kiku-san mad. She hated my dancing because it reminded her of the Shinchu family. Mostly, it's to escape to a far away place. Chie makes it seem so easy, but it's actually difficult to escape from harsh reality. However, if I spin hard enough and long enough, it'll leave. I dance and dance until my body reaches its limit. Then I have to stop because my body doesn't want to continue." Sasaya turned her attention back to Satoshi and smiled. "I bet you feel kind of dumb listening to a stupid girl's sad talk."

Satoshi sat down beside her and awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," he said. "You're not stupid at all, Sasaya. In fact, I think you're a really intelligent girl."

"Huh?" Sasaya's grew wide and her cheeks turned pink.

"It takes intelligence to recognize your weak points and it takes courage to admit them. And, uh . . ." Satoshi coughed a little and his face turned slightly red. "I think you're a lot cuter than her."

Sasaya's eyes turned blue, indicating she was surprised, but pleased.

"If anything, I'm the stupid one," he finished.

Sasaya smiled. "Let's just say we're both dumb." She took Satoshi's hands and both of them stood up. "Let's get of here and go somewhere."

"Go where?" Satoshi asked.

Sasaya shrugged. "Anywhere."

Satoshi nodded and both of them left the room.

_Well, since Chie ranted, I thought it would only be fair for Sasaya to rant as well. I wrote this while listening to "Kelas". To be honest, I don't really get the song (mainly because it's in Russian and I only know, like, two words?). I just understand this one part that says, "I'm gonna die" (well, I think that's what it says). It's a good song, though. And Sasaya really is a good dancer. At this point, I'm wondering about what to do with Sasaya and Satoshi's relationship. Should I leave it as a friendship or . . . maybe change a few things? Anyway, the next chapter will definitely have some strange stuff. Bye for now! _


	32. Opening of the Portal

"Chie-chan, I feel a little strange," Riku said as the girls entered Akrasia Temple.

"Me, too," Chie said.

Riku had only been to Akrasia Temple once, but she knew that she didn't like it. It was too large, too lonesome. And, for some reason, the temple itself was always cold and damp. And everything was dead. Chie didn't like it either because of the lack of light and life.

Chie's eyes darted from one corner of the large structure to the other. "Um, Kira-san, do we really need to be here?" she asked.

Kira turned around and smiled at them. "Yes, we do. Why do you ask?"

Chie twirled a lock of her hair. "It's just . . . well . . ."

"I understand if this place scares you, but this is something that must be dealt with immediately," Kira said in a hard voice.

Suddenly, the wind picked up. There was a loud booming sound and a crash. Chie and Riku grabbed each other and shrieked. Kira looked up at the sky and frowned. It was a strange, purplish color. The little sunlight that remained was disappearing.

"It couldn't be," she said. "Iru-kun couldn't have been right. Iru-kun couldn't possibly know---"

"Kira-san, what are you talking about?" Riku asked.

Kira turned to the girls. Both looked scared, but Chie was visibly trembling. Her lower lip was quivering and tears were filling her eyes. She was squeezing Riku's hands so hard that her knuckles were white.

Kira sighed. She didn't want to scare the girl anymore by telling her what she was thinking. Besides, it had just been a silly hunch told by a fevered teenaged boy. She wasn't supposed to take those things seriously.

"It's nothing," she said and plastered on another smile. "Chie-chan, are you scared?"

"No," Chie replied in a shaky voice. A tear rolled down her face and plopped onto the floor.

"It's all right," Kira said. "Come on, let's go."

Kira started walking inside the temple. Riku and Chie followed her. Chie wouldn't let go of Riku's hand. With her other hand, she brushed away the other tears that fell down her face.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Riku asked.

Chie nodded and smiled a wobbly smile. "I'm all right, Giku-chan. Thanks for asking."

Riku wanted to ask more, but Chie had turned to stare at something in the opposite direction. Chie was still trembling and she kept sniffling. Riku could tell that her friend was crying.

_She must really miss her sister, _Riku thought sadly.

Riku knew what it was like to have a sister. After all, Risa was her twin and, even though she bugged her sometimes, they were still very close. Riku couldn't stand the thought of losing Risa. To give her some strength, Riku squeezed Chie's hand.

Their footsteps echoed in the temple. It seemed darker for some reason and the air had suddenly gotten colder. Kira turned to a passageway to the right and started walking towards a door. She pushed it open and in they went.

The room was shaped like a square and was completely dark. There were four candles in each of the four corners. The flames flickered a little, making their shadows dance. There were many streaks of red on the black walls. Here and there were a few letters, but, other than that, they were all jumbled up.

"Kira-san, what is this place?" Chie asked.

Kira turned to Chie. "The place where we must perform the ceremony."

"What ceremony?" Riku asked. She had an extremely bad feeling about this.

"It'll open the Portal and you'll see Anas and everyone else. Of course, you don't have too---"

"I'll do it!" Chie exclaimed and finally let go of Riku's hand.

"Are you sure?" Riku asked.

With fierce determination, Chie nodded. _I can't start being a baby again. I have to do this! _

A smile slowly crept up Kira's lips. "Are you sure, Chie-chan?"

"Yes. Now, what do I have to do?"

"Go to the center."

Cautiously, Chie walked towards the center of the room. She'd be lying if she said the room didn't scare her, but, at the same time, she didn't want to back out.

"Sing."

Chie stared at Kira with confusion. "I have to sing? What song?"

"It doesn't matter. Just do it."

Chie twirled a lock of her hair and stared at the ground. "But I don't think I---"

Kira sighed with mild exasperation. "Riku-chan, would you say Chie-chan's a good singer?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, she's really good."

"Well, you heard her, Chie-chan. You are the only possible candidate for this ceremony. Start singing. Pour your feelings into the song."

"My feelings?"

"Everything you've been feeling since this whole incident started. Use those emotions to open the Portal."

_Emotions . . . _

Everything had started around the beginning of spring, Chie's favorite season. There had been her fainting spell, her talk with Daisuke, her meeting with Anas . . . so many things had happened through the course of what, a week? Two weeks?

Feelings of sadness, loneliness, and fear welled up in Chie's heart. She closed her eyes, lifted her arms to chest-level, clasped her hands, and rested her chin on them. Slowly, her lips parted and the sweet sound of her voice filled the room.

"On the day you left I just waved goodbye as usual, as if we were to meet again in this city

To believe in love is not to lose to myself

Until my wish comes true, I'll remain with a smile and look at the stars, praying for your return

I want to be the sky for you

So I can take away your sorrows, too

Whenever I look up, I want to fell as if I'm not alone

Let there be a place I can return to . . ."

Riku gasped. The letters on the walls started glowing, casting an eerie crimson light on Chie. At Chie's feet, a large circle suddenly materialized.

"What is---?" Riku started.

Kira held up a finger to silence her. "Hush. The ceremony has started."

Chie was oblivious to their words, the glowing, and the shapes that materialized at her feet as she continued to sing. Everything seemed hazy. The only thing that existed was the sound of her voice in that red-dyed room in the lonesome temple.

"I'm still living happily in this city without you because I feel that that's the one thing I can do now

There's a hidden meaning to all things that happen

I hope you'll remain yourself even if your dream begins to vanish because I'll always be here . . ."

As she sang, another circle formed within the circle that had first appeared. Then a triangle and a hexagon.

"It's okay even if you're not strong enough to erase all tears

After you rest your tired heart wish for a better tomorrow and fall asleep like the young children . . ."

Riku watched as more shapes formed. She didn't know what to make of all this. However, she understood why Chie had picked that song. The song sounded so much like something she would say to someone. Riku couldn't help but think that Chie, with her hands clasped as if she were praying, was begging someone to help her. To help everyone, in fact.

"This vast world is connected

The white clouds will flow and turn into wind to reach you

Will my voice reach you?

I couldn't say those overflowing feelings for you

I want to be the sky for you

So I can take away your sorrows, too

Whenever I look up, I want to fell as if I'm not alone

Let there be a place I can return to . . ."

Suddenly, there was a loud, rumbling noise. Riku gasped and noticed the red letters moving. They quickly moved from their spots and joined together up in the ceiling.

The strange jumble of circles, triangles, hexagons, rectangles, and swirls at Chie's feet also started to glow just as she sang the final words of the song in a sad, whispery, hopeful voice:

"Let there be a place I can return to . . ."

The letter glowed and spelled out one word in huge, red capitol letters:

PORTAL

_Didn't this turn out weird? I didn't even plan for all this to happen! When I chose "Motherland", I never thought the song would somehow come to represent Chie's true feelings. I didn't even think Chie would be willing to go along with all this. She really changed from my initial character sketch. She's still kinda dumb and naïve, but she's become a little wiser. Maybe it has to do with her name meaning wisdom. By the way, my middle sister's name also means wisdom (although her name's Greek and not Japanese), but she definitely isn't wise. She stole my cookies and you never steal sweet stuff from me because then I get mad! Fear me, cookie-stealers, fear me! _


	33. Punishment

It was dark. A filmy white haze snaked around the edges of the strange room Dark had suddenly found himself in. The haze appeared to glow and cast some light on the dismal surroundings.

"What the---?"

"Dark?"

The phantom thief looked up and saw someone with red hair being illuminated by the haze.

"Saki!" Dark ran over to her. "What the hell's going on?"

"Someone must've opened the Portal," Anas whispered.

"But how?"

Dark still wasn't exactly sure what this Portal thing was, but it didn't sound like something someone could open by snapping their fingers.

"I don't know." Anas frowned. "No one here should have the power of Kolia."

"No one except that little brat," a voice said.

Dark turned around and Anas stood up. In front of them stood Sana and Krad.

"You, too?" Dark demanded. "What the hell's going on?"

Sana clenched her fist and glared at Anas. "You have no idea how much I hate you, do you?"

Krad put a hand on her shoulder. "This is not the time. Explain to them about Kolia."

Sana turned to look up at Krad and pouted slightly. "But---!"

Krad shook his head. "Not now. Tell them."

Sana let out an exasperated sigh and put her hands on her hips. "Fine. Listen, Anas, you know how that little brat Chie is a good singer, right?"

The red-haired angel nodded. "Yes, go on."

"And you know how stupid she is, right? Anyway, to make a long story short, she's the one who opened the Portal by using Kolia."

"But what's Kolia?" Dark asked. He felt like he was being left out of the loop.

"Kolia is---"

"Hee, hee, hee, hee . . ."

The sound of child's laughter made Sana stop.

"Idiots," the child said, still laughing. "You're all idiots."

The angels scanned the dark surroundings.

"Who's there?" Krad called out.

Something started to glow in the middle of the circle they had formed. A child with long, ash-colored hair rose out of the ground. The child was wearing a shapeless black dress and it was hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl.

"Hee, you're so stupid!" the child said with a smile.

Horror washed over Sana's face. "It's Loathe!"

Loathe turned its purplish eyes to Sana and raised a hand. "That was very rude," it said as it slapped her so hard the she nearly fell.

"Who the hell are you?" Dark demanded, grabbing Loathe by the shoulders. "Answer me!"

Loathe grinned. "If you don't let go, I'll kill you," it said sweetly.

Something in the child's voice made Dark let go. How could Loathe say something like that so calmly?

"Now, as I was saying, you're idiots." Loathe turned to Sana. "I give you one tiny task and you screw it up with your little 'revenge' plot."

"It's not my fault!" Sana cried.

"Oh, but it most certainly is. I told you all you had to do was get rid of Chie, but you never listen, do you? And you!" Loathe glared at Krad. "You were supposed to keep her on track! Why do you think I broke the seal?

Anas raised her eyebrows. "I don't understand. Who are you, young one?"

Loathe walked over to Anas and stared at her menacingly. "I'm not human or angel. I'm something else all together that was birthed by someone very stupid." The strange child walk toward the middle of the circle and clapped her hands. The haze stopped swirling around the room. A white swirling shape formed on the floor.

"I'm taking you four with me. You and your tamers."

Before anyone could protest, the shape on the floor glowed intensely and everyone disappeared.

Riku opened her eyes. She had shut them after the letters had formed on the wall, but now that they were opened, she didn't see anything strange. The letters had returned to their original places and there weren't any strange shapes popping out of nowhere. Her gaze fell on a figure lying on the floor.

"Chie-chan!" she gasped and ran towards her.

Chie stirred a little and opened her eyes to look up at Riku. "What happened?" she asked, taking Riku's hand and standing up.

The girls turned to Kira. Her eyes were wide open with fright and she was trembling. The book fell from her hand with a loud thumping sound that echoed in the semi-empty room and she sank to her knees.

"Kira-san!" Chie exclaimed and ran over to her. Riku followed.

"It was all true," Kira whispered. "Iru-kun didn't lie."

"Iru-san? What do you mean? What did he say?" Chie asked desperately. When Kira didn't respond, Chie grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Kira-san!"

Kira stared at Chie with sadness in her eyes and removed the girl's hands from her shoulders. "The other. The one who exists in the way inanimate objects exist."

"What other?" Riku asked.

"There are two verbs for existing: aru and iru. Iru-kun's name means 'to exist' for animate objects. Aru means to exist for inanimate objects. Aru's older brother will come. Two people will try to protect him because he is a seraph."

"A seraph? But that's an angel!" Riku exclaimed.

The name sounded familiar to Chie, but she couldn't quite remember where she had heard it.

"It'll all disappear," Kira said.

She closed her eyes and fell backwards.

"Kira-san!" Chie exclaimed. She shook her again, but the girl wouldn't respond.

"What did she mean?" Riku asked.

"I don't know!" Tears were filling Chie's eyes. She didn't understand what was going on at all.

"Kira-san! KIRA-SAN!"

Kira did not wake up.

At that moment, Kikuko and Emiko entered the room. While Emiko looked horrified, Kikuko was all frowns.

"What the hell happened!" she immediately demanded. "What the hell did you idiots do!"

"How did---?" Riku started

"Daisuke suddenly fainted, so I went over to see Ekisha-sama and we both ran over here." Emiko had a look of sadness and anger on her face. "What happened?"

Chie hiccupped and started sobbing. She pressed her hands against her eyelids and sobbed, "I wanted my friends back, so I asked Kira-san for help. Giku-chan came along and---!"

"You didn't!" Kikuko turned to Riku. "Tell me she didn't sing. That's all I want to hear."

Riku opened her mouth, but shut it quickly. She didn't know whether to tell the truth or lie. Instead, she asked in a slightly scared voice, "Daisuke fainted?"

Emiko nodded and walked towards Riku. "Tell me what happened."

"Chie-chan sang and the letters on the walls started moving and---"

Kikuko slapped her forehead. "I was sure she didn't have it. Now they're all lost."

Chie removed her hands and looked up. "What?" she asked, trembling.

"Kolia. You were born with Kolia. It's a power that allows the user to open things by the mere sound of their voice. When concentrated perfectly and in the correct place, the Kolia user can open the Portal. Now, Daisuke, Satoshi, and Sasaya have all disappeared beyond the Portal."

Chie gasped. "Why would Kira-san---?"

"Kira was the one who told you about this?"

Chie nodded and suddenly remembered that Kira had suddenly collapsed.

"What about Kira-san? What happened to her?"

Kikuko walked over to the girl and knelt in front of her. "She's a little lost," the fortuneteller stated and stood up. "Let's go."

"But what about---?"

Kikuko sighed. "Emiko-chan, pick up the fool and take her to a hospital or something. I'll call Ami and we'll see."

Chie wanted to ask more questions, but kept quiet. Riku walked behind them, not quite sure what had happened. Daisuke had fainted? He had disappeared beyond this Portal thing?

As they walked down the stairs, Riku stared up at the sky. It had become a strange shade of purple.

_Daisuke_, she thought as a tear rolled down her face. _What happened? What did we do? _

**To be continued in The Land Beyond the Door **

_Wow, this had a very crappy ending. Well, thanks to everyone who actually read this product of my diseased mind. Hopefully, the sequel will come up before humans sprout wings and everything will be given a proper explanation. Now I got some homework to finish up (homework over the summer sucks!). Next is I Will and, yes, it will suck. Bye for now! _


End file.
